[training] a nettle’s first strike

[kairosclerosis]

nettlepaw
dark grey cat with darker spots and tail; green eyes
11 moons - thunderclan - they/any
the collector, agatha kitty, kitty softpaws t2

Nettlepaw calmly padded up to Dandelionmane, before asking awkwardly, paws shuffling;
“Dandelionmane.. would we.. be able.. to.. do.. some battle.. training?..”

@seeingstars

[seeingstars]

Dandelionmane ♥ They / Them ♥ Thunderclan warrior ♥ 17+ moons

Dandelionmane yawned and stretched, rolling out of their den before pushing themself to their paws. The pure white warrior blinked sleep out of their eyes, another yawn escaping their maw. It was before sunhigh... probably. They squinted glancing outside of the den. It was much brighter out there than here in the den, but it still didn't look sunhigh bright.

Dandelion slowly padded out of the warriors' den, their tired pale orange gaze scanned the camp clearing. Dandelionmane had accidentally begun to neglect their apprentice's training, but with the recent cold weather Dandelion was struggling to leave the warriors' den more and more often.

Finally their gaze locked onto the familiar dark pelt of their apprentice approaching them. A smile spread across their maw as they nodded "Of course Nettle! Have you eaten this morning? If not you can do that before we head out, or if you want to wait until after you can" They said with a gentle purr.

"Mornin' by the way" They teased, sticking their tongue out playfully

{ @kairosclerosis }

[kairosclerosis]

nettlepaw
dark grey cat with darker spots and tail; green eyes
11 moons - thunderclan - they/any
the collector, agatha kitty, kitty softpaws t2

”Morning, uhm.. yes.. i’ve.. eaten. We can.. go out.. now, I think.” Nettlepaw responded shyly. They knew how much their sister knew about battling, and so was prepared to learn so.. maybe they could spar together in the future? That might be fun, but Nettlepaw wasnt really the fighting type at all.
Nettlepaw turned back to Dandelionmane.
“What will.. we do.. first?”

@seeingstars

[seeingstars]

Dandelionmane ♥ They / Them ♥ Thunderclan warrior ♥ 17+ moons

They nodded "Good- Yeah, we can head out now!" The pure white warrior said with a nod and a purr "uh- We'll start with... I guess the basics- circling, a basic paw strike or two perhaps" they said, thinking out loud.

Dandelion admittedly was not the best when it came to combat, they'd always been a pacifist by nature, but knew fighting was a necessary part of being a warrior. A soft sigh escaped their maw as they turned around and made their way to the camp entrance, waiting for Nettlepaw to join them before darting out of the camp.

okay... so... training hollow is probably the safest place to go-

They wasted no time, arriving at the hollow quickly, barely giving time for any small talk, not like they were very far from camp anyways. They took a seat as they waited for Nettlepaw to join them.

{ @kairosclerosis }

[kairosclerosis]

nettlepaw
dark grey cat with darker spots and tail; green eyes
11 moons - thunderclan - they/any
the collector, agatha kitty, kitty softpaws t2

”Oh.. alright.” they mumbled as they followed Dandelionmane.

Nettlepaw stopped to sit near their mentor once they reached the training hollow.
“What do.. we.. do first?” they asked.

@seeingstars (sorry about short post I didn’t really know what to write)

[seeingstars]

Dandelionmane ♥ They / Them ♥ Thunderclan warrior ♥ 17+ moons

"hm- usually you start crouching and circling eachother- have... you ever playfought with anyone? Pretend you're doing that- I wanna see what you've got off the bat." They said with a grin, their tail swaying behind them.

Once they knew where Nettle was they'd then be able to give tips and tricks, then go from there.

{ @kairosclerosis }

[kairosclerosis]

nettlepaw
dark grey cat with darker spots and tail; green eyes
11 moons - thunderclan - they/any
the collector, agatha kitty, kitty softpaws t2

”Oh, uhm.. Well..”
Nettlepaw tried to remember if they’d ever playfought with anyone. A memory suddenly flew into their head.
“Oh! When me.. and Ash..paw.. were kits.. we.. playfought.. sometimes. When Ashpaw.. wasn’t.. playing with.. Dad.”
Nettlepaw didn’t really remember their past before Thunderclan, let alone Ashpaw with their father, but they did remember some of the fun bits — for example, playing (and more importantly play fighting) with Ashpaw.

Realising they were meant to do what they were being told, Nettlepaw jumped up to their paws, before doing a.. crouch. It was definitely a crouch, but resembled a hunting crouch more than a battle crouch.
“Is.. this good?” They asked shyly.

@seeingstars (this is set before the exile, ok)

[seeingstars]

Dandelionmane ♥ They / Them ♥ Thunderclan warrior ♥ 17+ moons

Dandelionmane purred with amusement "I had a friend who i used to playfight with all the time as a kit and apprentice! though- she... left recently I guess-" They said, shrugging it off before looking over Nettle's crouch

"Not too bad! Looks like you're about to pounce on a squirrel or somethin' though!" They said with a laugh before giving tips and corrections to get the crouch right. After that they continued.

"Okay- uh- now..." Dandelionmane crouched in front of Nettlepaw.

"I want you to swing at me like this-" They demonstrated a basic paw strike, attempting to tap Nettlepaw's shoulder with a small white paw, a grin plastered on their maw as they looked on at their apprentice, waiting to see what they'd do.

{ @kairosclerosis }

[kairosclerosis]

nettlepaw
dark grey cat with darker spots and tail; green eyes
11 moons - thunderclan - they/any
the collector, agatha kitty, kitty softpaws t2

Nettlepaw nodded, fixing their crouch, before looking to Dandelionmane intently as they instructed them what to do. After a moment, Nettlepaw complied swiftly, copying their mentor’ action. They used a soft paw strike on their mentor’s shoulder, before looking to Dandelionmane for a response.
“Did I.. do that.. right?” they murmured hopefully.

@seeingstars