Fighting Tips|Silverstripe and Rainpaw

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Rainpaw scrutinized Silverstripe with narrowed eyes, saying nothing for a few moments as she studied his face. Was he going to be like this for the whole training session? She sure hoped not. Neither of them would enjoy themselves that way. "Let's go, then" she said finally, leading the way out of camp, and away from Dewleaf. She wanted them far away from the glum she-cat when they finally got started. Looking back toward the silver tom, she considered her words carefully in her head before speaking. "You've never had a serious quarrel with a she-cat before, have you?" she said conversationally as they headed toward the training hollow. "There's a method to it; you can't just blunder around like a blind badger, or you'll end up making things worse."

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Silverstripe was glad to have finally left camp and gotten away from the downcast atmosphere. His thoughts still hanging low as he walked toward the training hollow, he hadn't said anything until Rainpaw spoke. Was it just him or did it seem like she thought she was an expert at quarreling? Pushing back annoyance, he realized that she had probably had fights with cats before. "What are you talking about? You think you know what's going on with Dewleaf and me?" Was it that obvious that they were fighting that they were bringing attention from other cats? He mulled over his problem with Dewleaf. They had never had a fight last this long before. Would it ever be resolved or would they keep avoiding each other? More than anything he wished for things to go back to normal.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Quirking a dry smile, Rainpaw continued walking and glanced sidelong at Silverstripe. "The whole Clan knows you two are fighting," she said. "You've both been grouchy as bee-stung badgers since last night. I'm just glad I don't have to sleep in the warriors den with you two; I bet the tension's thick enough to choke in there." She gave a short laugh, but then turned her sea-green gaze fully on Silverstripe. Looking thoughtfully at the silver warrior, she correctly interpreted his annoyed look and decided not to press it. "Just tone it down," she added, glancing away abruptly. "No one likes to see you two fight."

Continuing through the dawn-lit trees, Rainpaw headed unerringly towards the hollow, and wondered why it was that she should be training with this tom instead of her mentor. Probably because Silverstripe wouldn't assign her to cleaning out the elders' den when battle practice was over, she thought, and grinned. Then the trees ahead lightened, and a few moments later they had reached the hollow. "So Silverstripe," she said gamely, "what'll it be?" Balancing lightly on her paws, she spread her feet in an exaggerated battle-ready stance. "Are you going to teach me to be the best warrior in the forest?" she teased.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Silverstripe looked down at his paws as they walked, thinking about what she said. To some degree it surprised him the Clan would notice something like that. It wasn't like they were fighting violently or drawing any attention to themselves. He felt the urge to let her know that he hadn't slept in the warriors' den last night but held his tongue. Well, he thought, it didn't matter if the whole Clan knew. That wouldn't change what was going on between them and it wouldn't magically fix things.

For a while he didn't say anything, trying to focus his thoughts on what battle moves he should show Rainpaw. Soon they reached the hollow and Silverstripe wondered why it didn't seem as far away from camp as it used to. He hadn't been here for several days and the last time he had trained here was just before his warrior ceremony. Watching Rainpaw with amusement as she readied a battle stance, he thought. "Well, I guess we could practice moves you already know or I could show you something new. Which do you want to do?" Psyching himself up, he told himself that this would be fun and would help clear his mind.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Rainpaw relaxed her exaggerated stance when Silverstripe asked her seriously about what she wanted to practice. The blue-furred apprentice thought briefly and realized with amusement that she didn't feel like she needed to practice any of the moves she had already learned at all. She may continuously frustrate her mentor with her obstinacy and willful independence, but she did pay attention during their training sessions, and in fact liked to practice often when he wasn't breathing down the back of her neck. The small she-cat suspected that she probably knew some of her fighting techniques better than Brackenpelt would have guessed. "Teach me something new," she purred fiercely. "I want to leave Brackenpelt speechless."

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Silverstripe nodded and thought for a moment. "Well, I don't know Brackenpelt, but I would guess that he teaches moves based more on force and direct blows. So you'll want to try moves that will outsmart him; that'll surprise him for sure." He wondered briefly how he made it sound like he knew so much about battle moves- he wasn't an experienced mentor and had hardly been in a real battle. But he went on despite that. Thinking back to when he trained as an apprentice, he tried to remember a move he could show her.

"I got it." He announced. Swishing his striped tail as he stepped back, he told her. "I learned this trick recently- just before I was made a warrior. The point is to anticipate your opponent's movements, know what they're going to do, and counter it quickly." Well, that sounded simple enough to him but he wasn't sure if she understood what he was trying to say. Maybe he wasn't a good mentor after all. "Does that make any sense?"

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Rainpaw listened attentively as the silver tom pondered out loud on what to teach her. She suppressed a laugh at Silverstripe's assertion that Brackenpelt was blunt and direct in his fighting. Yep, that's Brackenpelt to a T! But she hadn't considered using that against him before. Usually the fluffy apprentice was too busy trying to prove herself in combat training to actually analyze her mentor's fighting patterns. Silverstripe's suggestion sent a thrill of anticipation through her, but it also confused her a bit. "How can I know what an enemy cat is going to do before they do it?" she questioned. She hadn't realized that it was possible to predict that sort of thing; if she had, she would have payed significantly more attention to her mentor's movements. She might have avoided a few of the cuffs that he aimed her way!

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

"Well," Silverstripe said, remembering what his mentor had told him, "If you know the cat well enough, you could know what kinds of moves to counter with. A cat like Brackenpelt, like I said, would probably use forceful moves and try to overpower his opponent. So instead you could be quick and get him when he doesn't expect it. The Clans have their fighting styles, too. WindClan cats are quick and speedy, so they'll try to outrun and confuse you. ThunderClan uses brute strength, and ShadowClan cats are sneaky and use surprise attacks. So you can know what to expect on the battle feild." he guessed he was going off track.

"Anyway, based on that, pretend I'm a ThunderClan cat." he crouched lower to the ground, tail-tip twitching, and prepared to attack. "Ready?"

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Rainpaw listened silently as Silverstripe made his speech. So, the concept was to gauge what kind of cat you were facing, and then guess what kinds of moves they would be likely to use? It seemed like a risky tactic, since every cat tended to have their own style, but perhaps she could adapt the move and use it on individual cats. But her thoughts were interrupted by Silverstripe's question. She would think more about her idea later, but for now she had training to do. Lowering herself into a balanced fighting crouch, the small she-cat studied the silver warrior for a moment before nodding. He had just said that ThunderClan tended to rely on their muscles rather than speed or brains, so she's try assuming that Silverstripe was... well, more like Brackenpelt. Rainpaw stifled a giggle and prepared to be attacked.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Silverstripe wasn't a big cat by any means, and he was more slender and skinny than muscular, much different looking than a ThunderClan cat. But he still planted his feet on the ground and gathered strength in his limbs in preparation to attack. Within a second of preparing his leap, Silverstripe had burst off running toward Rainpaw. He didn't want to hurt another Clan mate, but pretended he was still an apprentice and this was a practice fight. Keeping in mind to use force and muscle in his attack, he came closer to Rainpaw and moved a little to the side so he could ram into her shoulder. He doubted a move like that would be able to knock her off her feet but this was a practice match, so it didn't matter.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

He's going to do something obvious, Rainpaw thought to herself. Something straightforward and powerful. Keep light on your paws and be ready to move. Keeping her sea-green eyes trained on the other cat, she rested her weight evenly on her paws and readied herself to spring into action. In a moment Silverstripe tensed his muscles and launched himself forward in an explosive burst of speed. Not at all surprised, the small apprentice held her ground until the last moment, when she ducked down just as he hurtled towards her shoulder. Except that now there was nothing there except empty air, and she was tucked close to the ground, aiming her head for Silverstripe's paws in an effort to knock them out from under him.