Early Start (Tagged)

[Feather]

Dull sun filtered through the leaves, casting light across the apprentice sleeping area. Cedarpaw yawned, his body arching and stretching away from his sister who he knew was curled up next to him. Once fully spread out he let his body remain there, careful not to bump into any of the other apprentices. It was cold, colder than usual and Cedarpaw couldn't help but shiver and curl his body tighter again so that he retained heat. He was looking forward to leafbare ending. He had just gotten used to what little warmth leaffall could bring when it was snatched away by a very cold leafbare. Cedarpaw yawned once more before his eyes jolted open, remembering where he was. He was in the apprentices den. His first night as an apprentice and today would be his first training session. Cedarpaw jerked to his feet, disloging Honeypaw and causing her to let out an annoyed huff.

First day of training! Cedarpaw purred in excitement. I wonder if Willowbranch is awake yet. Bouncing slightly on his paws, Cedarpaw made his way out of the den and into the light of the day. This was the earliest he'd ever been awake and he could see cats all around the camp starting to move and get ready for patrols. That would be him one day soon. He still couldn't believe that he'd gotten so lucky with his mentor. Willobranch was the deputy of LeafClan and held the position that he'd wanted for moons now. 

With an impatient swish of his tail, Cedarpaw sat down just outside of the apprentice den and waited to see where his mentor was.  



Tagged:Ambrose

[Ambrose]

Sunlight was very, very welcome in LeafClan; after the frozen-cold days that occurred so often, it was a relief to have one day like this. The camp was icy in more ways than one. The ground was frozen over and easy to slip on, a delicate blanket of snow lining it.  Birch trees branches bent under the weight of snow, a replacement for the usual leaves. Icy, too, were the sickly sufferers of greencough; their eyes "frozen", their limbs brittle and weak like ice. but the most icy thing was some cats' moods; hopelessness and unsureness ruled many minds tyranically. 

but not Willowbranch, the ever optimistic deputy. Determined to keep on fighting until she couldn't any more, she rose from sleep to conquer her next day in the form of training her new apprentice, Cedarpaw. Her second apprentice; she mentored Stumpypaw as well, and was loving it. Mentorship fulfilled Willowbranch, fulfilled some innate desire to help others and help them grow. 

In a way, she was proud of herself for coming this far; sadness was a recurring visitor to her life, but she would always overcome it. She became deputy, had her kits, and now she had two apprentices. It was good. It was all perfectly fine, in the end.

And so Willowbranch searched the icy clearing for her apprentice, finding him closer to her than she expected. She ran over, skidding on the ice. "Hello, Cedarpaw! Today we'll be doing fighting training. Follow me, but don't run.. look what happened to me just there." She smiled and nodded, padding away from him carefully. 
-

Willowbranch marvelled at the frozen forest as she padded along with her apprentice. She turned at a dip in the ground which led into her secret clearing. Well, not much of a secret anymore; it used to be until she brought her apprentices there, and Stumpypaw had no doubt told someone.

The petite shecat grinned and asked, "Now, let's build off of what you know. Do you know any fighting moves? Would the warriors have taught you anything?"

[Feather]

Cedarpaw watched the snow underneath the paws of his fellow clanmates crunch as they went about their business. He wasn't a huge fan of snow, but at least he didn't hate it as much as Honeypaw did. She despised the cold more than anything and it was probably due to her size. Cedarpaw enjoyed playing with the fact that he'd always been bigger than her by tackling her and using his stature to his advantage. She rarely got the best of him.

He wasn't waiting for his mentor long before she was skidding to a halt in front of him. Tail raised in surprise, he watched as Willowbranch shook off the skid. 

"Hello, Cedarpaw! Today we'll be doing fighting training. Follow me, but don't run.. look what happened to me just there."

Cedarpaw wiggled in excitement, quickly moving to follow his mentor across the clearing and out of the camp. As he made his way outside of the camp properly for one of the first times, Cedarpaw could hardly contain his happiness. Training in leafbare would make him extra strong and was sure to prepare him for hard times to come.  

-

He couldn't really remember what this forest looked like when it wasn't covered in snow, but he was sure he'd get used to it when it changed soon. Cedarpaw padded along after his mentor and watched the snow move with the movement of themselves. There were a lot of icy parts that the both of them had to avoid on their travels.

They finally arrived in a clearing where his mentor turned around. "Now, let's build off of what you know. Do you know any fighting moves? Would the warriors have taught you anything?"

Cedarpaw shook his head, "I don't know much yet." He admitted. "I've picked up a few things from playfighting with Honeypaw but nothing beyond that." 

[Ambrose]

OOC: sorry for the late reply!

IC:
Willowbranch nodded as Cedarpaw explained his knowledge of fighting. "Mhm, I see. Well, that's why we're here today; I'm going to teach you." she said. A quick hit of worry surged through her body, as she wasn't a very good fighter, but she pushed it away from her; it wasn't going to ruin their training session. What is the most basic move.. "Okay. First of all, always keep your claws sheathed while fighting other clanmates; this is training, not a battle." she said, lifting a paw to show him that her claws were sheathed. "We're going to start with the simplest move, as we should. It's just a simple paw rake. First, make sure your paw is straight and doesn't bend while we do this move. You can hurt yourself. Then, simply swipe down." Willowbranch demonstrated this by raking the air. "Now, you try it in the air, and then you can try it on me."

[Feather]

A slightly breeze brushed through the clearing as Cedarpaw sat with Willowbranch. His ears twitched as he heard something in the trees but he ignored in in favour of paying attention. Cedarpaw listened to his mentor intently and was slightly disappointing when the first thing he would be learning was something so simple. Disappointing, but he also realized that his mentor probably knew what was best for him.

The tom-cat made sure that his claws were sheathed before raising his arm up in a mirror of his mentor. He raked his paw down, pretending that there was a cat in front of him that he was attacking it - maybe his sister was standing there. He was used to practicing on her. His paw slashed through the air before coming to a rest just above the ground. "Like that?"



OOC: Take your time! It's no worries

[Ambrose]

It was perfect training weather today, and Willowbranch was ever so glad of this; it was a lot easier than trying to train in the snow or in a downpour. Willowbranch nodded as her apprentice nailed the move. "Nicely done; I don't think you'll have to test on me, you have it down well." She smiled. "It is a basic move, but everyone needs to know." She eased out of her seated position into a standing position. "One of the most important body parts while fighting is your belly. It sounds strange, yes. but if you get a blow to the belly, that's it, you're done for. Same goes for fighting; if you can scratch the belly, you've really scored. What you can do if you're pinned down is kick up with your hindpaws... we'll try this out now. Let me pin you down; I won't hurt you." She gave her apprentice time to realise what was happening, then ran towards Cedarpaw, seeking to knock him over so that she could try the theory in practice.