About Training, My Clanmates

[Midnight]

Midnightstar let out a loud, announcing yowl, "I'd like to speak with all mentors! Come now."

Rainpelt padded out of the leader's den to sit by his mate. I am a mentor.. He thought.

Lightningstorm, who was settled by his mate outside the elders' den, licked her flank and stood, heading over to his daughter. Lightningstorm sat a few tail-lengths away from her, his golden eyes narrowed, wondering what she needed from the warriors who had apprentices.

Blossomheart and Cherryleaf exchanged confused yet curious glances. They shrugged and trotted hurriedly over to the leader.

Kurai and Dawnheart were laying next to each other, enjoying the warmth of the setting, green-leaf sun. "I'll be back," Kurai purred to his mate before walking over to the rest of the group.

Midnightstar patiently waited for the other mentors to gather, her tail curling over her paws as she sat.

[kiba]

Shadowstep's ears perked up as he heard his leader calling. He looked up from beside the freshkill pile and then sighed. He would get something toe at later. He bounded over towards his leader and the other mentors. "Something wrong, Midnightstar?" he asked, eyes filling with curiosity.

[Midnight]

"I suppose you could say that," Midnightstar had begun to use her paw to clean her face, "Though it's moreover the fact that this Clan's traditions are appearing to... Slip away." She set her paw back on the ground and brought her voice up so those around her could hear, but probably not the whole clearing, "Warriors who have been given the honor of training the Clan's kits to become warriors themselves one day," She began, "I've noticed that our traditional ways of hunting and fighting are beginning to rub off into StarClan.. I want to see apprentices being trained in MidnightClan ways, not some ways you thought of on the spot."

The leader took a deep breath, hating herself for having to talk so much. "Now, as some of us," Midnightstar looked at her parents and some of the older warriors, "Some of us know that this Clan uses a rather... Unique and well thought-up way of fighting." Midnightstar looked at Lightningstorm and flicked her head toward him, "Lightningstorm, demonstrate to the others what I mean with Rainpelt."

Lightningstorm dipped his head and looked at Rainpelt, "I stalk?"

Rainpelt nodded, "Sure."

Lightningstorm looked around a bit, then dashed over to the camp's walls and plunged into the well-protected mass of leaves, bracken, and many other things. Finding it very hard to manage, but getting through, Lightningstorm pounced at Rainpelt as the tom approached the wall, pretending to be a stupid cat fighting MidnightClan.

Lightningstorm and Rainpelt tussled in a fake fight for a few moments before heading back to their places.

Midnightstar flicked her tail in approval, "That, my Clanmates, is MidnightClan's traditional attack. Leap into the undergrowth, stalk around your opponent, then, when they seem to be utterly confused about your location, attack. You don't have to just be training in battle- if a Clanmate doesn't appear to be about to catch prey, try it on them."

"May I add something, Midnightstar?" Duskheart asked, stepping up. Midnightstar nodded to her son, waiting to hear what he had to say. The tom turned to face his Clanmates, "I was taught an excellent addition move by my mentor as an apprentice.. She taught me that if you land on your opponent's back, it's a good idea to cover their eyes with your paws and sink your claws in around their eyes."

"That's good." Midnightstar meowed, "Try that as well... Give yourselves time to think this all over, and in a few minutes I'll tell you what I expect from our apprentices' hunting."

[kiba]

Shadowstep nodded and watched the two toms tussle. He flicked his tail towards Midnightstar. "I can see where you are getting at, but shouldn't we come up with newer moves, as well? Just to keep the other cats on their toes?" he asked, blue eyes looking over the other mentors to see what the thought.

[Midnight]

"Sometimes it can be nice... It's not like we battle the other Clans all that much, though." Midnightstar answered Shadowstep. "If it's ever needed, we can use other battle moves, but this is what we mainly use." She was one to go more for tradition than for something new, although Midnightstar was willing to try new things if needed.

[kiba]

Shadowstep bowed his head. "I understand that, Midnightstar. I was just speaking my mind," he mewed. He then flicked his tail. "We can train with each other too so that we get used to using the move again. I think most of the clan needs to get back into practice anyways. How about we take out some of the warriors who don't have apprentices with us when we train?" he asked, looking at his leader.

[Midnight]

"Yes, good idea." Midnightstar meowed. "Warriors need to be prepared to teach our traditional attack when they have their own apprentices.." She brought her voice up again, "Now, onto hunting... If you've anything else to say about battling, speak with me after. We stalk and pounce our prey- that simple. When fishing, do whatever, but I personally prefer to dive my face in and catch the fish with my teeth."

[kiba]

Shadowstep scrunched up his face when she said fishing. He flicked his tail at her, showing he clearly didn't like it, but would teach it if he had to. "That sounds good to me. Simple enough to know," he mewed, licking his paw and swiping it over his face.

[Midnight]

Midnightstar nodded. "Now, I'm sure not every cat here likes fish, but it is prey and there are those of us who do enjoy it." She resisted the urge to lick her lips as she thought about eating fish. Midnightstar shook herself and asked, "Any cat have anymore questions or comments?"

[Foxpaw]

Gustleap watched the her clanmate's interactions, silent for once. She completely agreed with the dark leader. Feeling a rush of pride for her clan, she silently vowed to teach Mistpaw all about what being a MidnightClan warrior meant and to make sure that she knew how important her clan's unique ways of hunting and fighting were. So, she merely shook her head to Midnightstar's question, eyes shining with determination.

[frostfur]

Frostfur nodded thoughtfully from just inside the nursery den. It made sense to do that. Frostfur reflected upon her training with Stormpaw and grimanced. She needed to train him more often. Frostfur walked up to the dark leader. "Well put, Midnightstar," she purred. Frostfur remembered only too well how close of a friendship they once had, only she just didn't know if it was still there.

[Midnight]

Midnightstar looked at Frostfur and nodded, "Thanks... I just hope that it'll all work out." The leader flicked her tail to show dismissal of the meeting and padded back into her den. Now that that's settled... Midnightstar thought, curling up in her nest for a nap.