PreparexforxCombat [mothflight//training session?]

[♫.Starredmyst]

OOc;{So Night reeeeally needs to get some training stuff in. He's almost old enough to be a warrior xD [Wait. Is it usually 10 moons or 12 that they usually do the ceremony?] I'm thinking a sparring thread, and then like a "test" or something so he can have his ceremony?}

The morning sun glinted brightly off slim fangs as Nightpaw padded out into the light, yawning widely and stretching his front legs out. Another day, another set of duties; he was set to go on sunhigh hunting patrol today, and hoped they'd be up in the forest instead of fishing. He had a feeling his bird-catching skills were getting rusty from lack of use.

The young tom followed through on his stretch, pulling himself forward and stretching his legs and tail out to their fullest extent; then, feeling somewhat more awake, he went to grab a light breakfast, grimacing at the sight of the pile. It wasn't too low, but consisted of fish, fish and more fish. Sighing, Nightpaw grabbed the top one and gulped it down, not at all happy with the taste.

Bet Cousin Starr's happy, the tom mused, licking his whiskers in an attempt to rid his nose of the smell; he knew all too well his cousin's fondness for sea life. She never gets enough of the foul things...hmm; look there, she's already up. Wonder when Mothflight will come out...

The tom had been busy with his duties lately; Nightpaw wasn't entirely certain why, but it seemed lately that all the senior warriors had had to do a lot more than usual -- them and Moonwhisker, they all worked from dawn till dusk. Unfortunately, that trend had been reflected in the young tom's training...

Hopefully, though, there'd be time to train this morning.

[Đarκsong]

{{ooc: I believe it's 12 moons, give or take}}

Mothflight padded out of the Warriors Den. He stretched out slowly, letting out a yawn. Spotting Nightpaw, he walked over to him. It seemed like it had been forever since he had last trained his apprentice. Things in the clan had been rather hectic with leaf-bare arriving.

"Good morning, Nightpaw." Mothflight said, "Perhaps we could sneak in some fight training before sunhigh?" He offered.

[♫.Starredmyst]

OOc;{Ah. Alrighties. He's got a little bit of time left, then.}

Nightpaw turned as he heard his mentor's voice, and grinned; the older tom had echoed his thoughts.

"You bet!" he answered cheerfully. "Cousin Starr taught me some new moves a couple days back and I wanna see if they're any good for a real warrior. Umm..." He paused, tilting his head. "We gonna do it here in camp, or out somewhere else?"

[Đarκsong]

"That's great. I suppose we could go to the sands, just to be out of the way." Mothflight suggested to Nightpaw.

{{ooc: You start new thread? My muse died, if you can't tell XD}}

[♫.Starredmyst]

OOc;{lol okies...think I'm just gonna move this thread from Camp to Sands 'cuz it's so short .-.}

Nightpaw nodded cheerfully. "Yeah -- betcha everybody's gonna be out here soon to catch the sun, huh?" And, with that as his cue, the young tom hared off, skidding on the frozen-over stream and turning the momentum into a half-controlled dive out the camp entrance.

Once outside, the tom regained his paws and trotted off a distance; after scouting out a fun place to train, he settled on a spot up against the cliff face, with dry, grainy sand underfoot and close-packed dirt at his back.

Only then did Nightpaw remember that his mentor was coming with him, and spin around to see if the older tom had followed. "This okay, Mothflight? D'you have stuff to show me or is it gonna be a fight?"

[Đarκsong]

Mothflight followed behind Nightpaw, his gait less enthusiastic than his apprentice's. He nodded to the young cat that the spot he had chosen was fine. He thought about Nightpaw's question for a moment and replied, "Why don't you show me what Starredmyst taught you first?" Mothflight was a bit curious about what she had taught him, and really didn't feel like showing him fighting moves today. He just felt....out of it.

[♫.Starredmyst]

Nightpaw sighed, a little disappointed that there'd be no live match yet, but strove to hide it and grinned up at his mentor.

"Right. Umm. The one's pretty standard, for when a cat jumps on top of you. You roll over --"

He demonstrated, flinging himself down onto his back, holding the position a second, and then springing back up to his paws and facing the spot he'd just landed down on.

"Starr said there's a trick to it, if the cat's heavier than you; you have to sort of throw yourself down instead of just rolling. And then as soon as their grip gets loose you spin around and attack them."

He paused a moment, then went on.

"The other one was a counter for when you're up on your hind legs clawing at the other cat. She said to end it you can sort of throw yourself forward, like you're going down on your front paws, and use it to get through the other cat's guard and bite at their throat. She demonstrated for me, but I don't think I can do it right, and she said never to do it in a fight unless you're desperate, because you usually get yourself scratched up and it can kill the other cat."

Nightpaw hesitated, feeling a little awkward after that dark announcement, and shuffled his paws. "Umm, I mean, we actually sparred a little, and there were some tricks and stuff she showed me during the match. But those were the only things she actually stopped it to demonstrate, instead of just explaining while she did it to me." He laughed, a little self-conscious about explaining the moves to his mentor, and glanced up at Mothflight out of the corner of his eyes.

[Đarκsong]

Mothflight nodded throughout most of Nightpaw's explanations. What Starredmyst had taught him was all very good. A small part of him though was a bit erked about her training his apprentice. He shook it off though, knowing that Starredmyst and Nightpaw were kin and probably quite close.

"That's all very good, Nightpaw." He complimented. Mothflight searched his mind for a few moment to think of something to show Nightpaw. A thought came to him, so he stood up and told Nightpaw: "Try and get past me. Do whatever you think will work, then I'll tell you some of the best strategies after."

[♫.Starredmyst]

"Right."

Nightpaw's ears pricked up at his mentor's praise; a gleam entered his eye at the suggestion that a real match was about to begin, and the apprentice turned to take a careful step away from his mentor. He dropped automatically into a slinking half-crouch as he studied the older cat, pacing slowly around Mothflight as he assessed his options.

He'd never really noticed it before; he and Mothflight were really a lot alike. The older tom was still larger than he was -- Nightpaw hadn't yet finished growing -- but he had the same powerful build, similarly colored fur, even eyes just a shade greener than Nightpaw's own.

It made him a good mentor choice. Except -- the same build meant the same advantages. How could he beat someone the same as him, only bigger and older?

Bigger -- there's a difference, Nightpaw thought hopefully. He'd completed half a circuit; Mothflight would be waiting for an attack. And I'm really not so muscley as he is...my legs'll be longer when I'm grown. Does that make me faster?

Well, only one way to find out. He wasn't sure how to make use of the size difference, not that it was big enough to make much of one anyway; Nightpaw, although not especially large, was by no means the smallest cat in the Clan anymore and was nearing his full size. So -- speed?

Nightpaw's eyes flicked toward Mothflight's, and he made a split-second innovation just before moving; darting in to close the distance between them, he cut at an angle in the direction he'd come, ducking downward to catch his shoulder on his mentor's hind leg. Giving a shove, he darted away and spun around, turning to come back in while his mentor was still -- hopefully -- unbalanced.

OOc;{Icky post. I'm rusty ;-;}

[Đarκsong]

Mothflight watched with a smirk on his face as Nightpaw plotted his move. The tortie tom didn't really brace himself at all; he was confident the young tom wouldn't come close to getting past him. He was pleasantly surprised when Nightpaw moved to unbalance him, which was successful for a moment.

Yet in the amount of time Nightpaw took to spin back around and charge, Mothflight was back at the ready. He easily blocked his apprentice, "That was very good, Nightpaw." He complimented, "It's great that you were able to come up with a decent plan, but you underestimated my speed just a bit." Mothflight was rather proud of his apprentice's actions.

"Another thing you could do without even touching your opponent is try faking them out." He suggested, "Confuse them as to what direction you will go and make quick movements." Mothflight nodded and stood at the ready, that is if Nightpaw wished to try again.

[♫.Starredmyst]

"All right."

Nightpaw began to circle around Mothflight again; this time he leapt in earlier, at Mothflight's left shoulder, and pulled back quickly. Knowing his mentor would expect the move after their conversation, he lunged back in again immediately, nipping lightly at the same spot and then pulling back. Following the same pattern, he feinted towards Mothflight's back legs and then back towards his shoulder a third time, trying to ram him off-balance.

"Like that?" he panted, pulling back for a second.