A Sunhigh Sparring

[Yoko]

The drizzly day had let up quite a bit since that morning. The sky was a steely gray sheen, unbroken and blindingly bright. Twistedclaw did his best to ignore it in favor of the darker earth tones of the swamp. The few trees of the territory had blackened from water absorbtion. The ground had swelled destabilized, leaving puddles of water and hiding pits of mud beneath smooth firm-looking exterior.

The smallest tabby brother cared nothing for cleanliness (not to say he was always unclean as Snaketail would never allow that) and he trod on through the deeper puddles though some nearly swallowed his legs whole. Ironically, the dryest unoccupied bit of space that could be found was beside the small stream.

The water within the flowing mass of water had flooded its original banks and was rushing down to the ThunderClan border. Twistedclaw found as shallow a place in the mud as he could, which only buried his paws, and beckoned Feathercloud over. They would not be able to train tonight because of the Gathering, and surprisingly, it was Twistedclaw who had asked that they simply do it earlier, instead of canceling it. He had to admit that although Featherclous was no natural, he was fond of seeing her progress.

"Ready?" he mewed gruffly. "The weather will make it difficult, but it will be good to train in terrain that's an advantage for ShadowClan. I'd love to see ThunderClan try and fight in all this mud."

[Ki]

Feathercloud padded after Twistedclaw, fighting through the mud. She dismayed only slightly; this would take forever to clean out of her fur. But she'd lived in the marshes all her life. She was accustomed to mud. There had been many times in her life when she'd had to dig through mud in order to uncover some sort of herb, or splash into the marshy waters to get the roots of a certain plant. So she was used to getting a little dirty. She padded up beside Twistedclaw, ignoring the mud that came up around her dainty little paws.

Feathercloud was happy they were getting a chance to train. With the Gathering, she thought they wouldn't be able to. The medicine cat was slowly learning, though she was far from a natural at this. Fighting was not her forte. But she was trying her best to learn, and in her eyes Twistedclaw was an excellent teacher. She smiled brightly at him, flicking her tail back and forth. "They'd have a hard time with it, I'm sure." she mewed. "But, then again, I probably wouldn't be comfortable in a tree." Feathercloud giggled. She'd been in the few trees in ShadowClan's territory, and she didn't like it. A cat was not meant to be that high off the ground. Ever.

[Yoko]

Twistedclaw smirked in agreement with that last statement. For cats as small as them, standing on a boulder was to be high up. Standing on a tree branch would practically be flying. And cats were not meant to fly...Well, unless they did so with extended claws.With a dark chuckle to himself he turned to face his petite companion.

"Well, these conditions aren't exactly good for practicing the Leap and Hold," he mewed with just a hint of bitterness about the weather. He added with a wry smile, "You wouldn't get a very good grip on your opponent with all that mud on your paws. SO, we will practice on techniques that require being low to the ground. Which is our specialty. So first, we'll start with the Duck Under. Simply put, you run full speed at your opponent, zigzag (try not to slip) and shoot under them. Once beneath give a swift blow to one of their legs, maybe even bite if you're feeling bold, then dart away before they can get to you."

Twistedclaw realized he was not ideal for this, being on the smaller side of adult cats, but Feathercloud was the smaller at least. At worst, she might have to crawl a little.

[Ki]

The medicine cat listened intently, trying to figure out how she would do this. Being low to the ground and eerily quiet (even for a cat) was, in fact, ShadowClan's specialty. They also managed to keep their balance on mud. Most of the time. Speed and unstable ground didn't exactly mix that well. But Feathercloud would give it a go or two. She nodded and got down lower to the ground. Her underbelly, already brushed with mud, was now getting caked with it. She began running, zig-zagging. At first she went a bit slower. It was only instinct when the ground was slippery like this. But Twistedclaw had said to run at her top speed. Feathercloud didn't have very long legs, but she managed to be speedy when she tried. The little medicine cat upped her speed.

Feathercloud made two sharp of a turn and sent her paws slipping out from under her. She let out a small yowl of surprise and slid a bit in the mud. But she was quickly on her feet, one half off her body now completely covered in mud. She looked at herself and laughed. Perhaps battle training was supposed to be serious, but Feathercloud was usually one to laugh at herself. It wasn't as if she was hurt or anything.

[Yoko]

Twistedclaw braced himself with an anticipatory smirk as the small Medicine Cat darted towards him. It was odd to see one so small moving so quickly and he pondered for a moment or two if that was how he appeared in actual battle. He concluded that it was not, however, for he was larger and most certainly more fierce looking than the fluffy she-cat. A spark of pride flickered in his chest as he realized that it was his hard work that would make Feathercloud every bit as dangerous as a new warrior.

The spark was a bit put out by her mud slide, which would not have been so bad if she had slid into him and bowled him over instead of gliding harmlessly to the side. He might have scolded Eclipsepaw for such an error but he was so taken aback by her laughter that all thoughts of punishing her went out the ear. He gave a begrudging smile.

"Well," he mewed with a smirk, "The sight of you in all that mud would certainly make a kittypet think twice about fighting the ShadowClan Medicine Cat, Feathercloud."

He turned and walked a little further away before facing her again. "Let's try this again."

[Ki]

Feathercloud puffed out her chest proudly, smiling in a confident manner. "Oh yes. Because I'm the ideal image of what an ideal warrior should be like." She giggled a bit again, then buckled down again. The medicine cat was here to train. To defend herself, her patients, and her Clan if required. Usually medicine cats were overlooked during a war. But she had heard of accounts when they were murdered. Sometimes to cripple a Clan. Though that usually happened when the opposing Clan was desperate and that particular medicine cat didn't happen to have an apprentice to take over for them.

Just like Feathercloud didn't.

She got low to the ground again and ran at Twistedclaw. Still going fast, but not her full speed. She took more care with turning so her paws wouldn't slip out from under her. She got to Twistedclaw, but forgot to claw at his legs. Besides, it wasn't easy. They were both on the small side for cats. So instead she ran right into him. She let out a small yowl as she fell, mroe out of surprise then out of pain. Her amber eyes widened with concern. "Twistedclaw, are you ok? I'm sorry!" It didn't seem likely she could hurt him. She was very petite. The most she could do by slamming into him was knocking the breath out of him. But you never knew. She'd seen cats fall over and hit their heads on malicious rocks that hit just out of view. Or fall on to an adder that had been resting hidden in the grasses.

[Yoko]

Twistedclaw laughed darkly. Poor Feathercloud could not scare a mouse if she had it between her teeth. She was smaller than his former apprentice, and Eclipsepaw is pretty small for an 11 moon old. All the same , he braced himself.

The small tabby found himself holding his breath as she made that turn again, but he noticed she was moving slower. He stood up straight and tall. This would be easier if she were fighting Snaketail or Lizardeye, and he expected that even if done correctly, this would be a really uncomfortable attack for both of them. He did, however, anticipate, that she would skip going under and clawing him and instead would bowl him over.

Perhaps it was that he was surprised, it may have been that he didn't have a good grip in the mud, but he fell flat on his back under her almost non-existent weight. He was not seeing stars, but the mud in his ears made it difficult to understand what she was saying. All he knew was that she was practically nose to nose with him and he could smell her. So sweet and tangy from all the herbs in her den, and those leaf-shaded eyes were so wide and worried. He felt his ears burning.

Very lowly he growled, "I'm fine...please get off."

[Ki]

Feathercloud let out a small gasp as she realized she was practically still on top of Twistedclaw. Mewing a thousand apologies, she leapt off of her 'mentor.' No, she wasn't very fierce. And she wasn't very good at fighting in general. Perhaps it was all for the best she became a medicine cat. That seemed to have been StarClan's plan for her from the start. They didn't need a strong, fierce medicine cat. ShadowClan needed someone gentle who could care for them knowingly. She wasn't very strong, but she had an excellent memory. How else could she remember all those herbs? This was working to her advantage somewhat. Feathercloud had yet to confuse moves and their names. She was also getting a bit better at identifying her mistakes and remembering to prevent them. Knowing the manner of prevention, however, was where it got complicated. It was easy to control your mind. But your body was a different story.

"Should we try that again?" she mewed, embarrassed. StarClan had been right when they'd told her she'd never be a warrior. In more ways than one, actually! "I'm really very sorry, Twistedclaw. I'll be more careful." As a medicine cat, she was trained to heal cats and help them prevent infection and illness. Not attack them. It went against her very nature. Even when it was tame and controlled like their training sessions. It was difficult for Feathercloud to get over her reservations over hurting someone. Yes, she was petite and tiny. To a trained warrior like Twistedclaw, she couldn't do much damage to. Sometimes she wondered how she would do damage to anyone to begin with. Yes, she had the training. And even if she got past her reservations on hurting cats, would she even be able to stand up to a trained warrior?

[Yoko]

Even as the small cat hopped off of him, Twistedclaw remained on his back for a moment, attempting to pull himself together. With a deep breath, he rolled onto his belly and was thoroughly coated from head to claws in mud. Some of the more liquid mud dripped off of him, but most of it was caked up in his tabby fur. Not that the small tabby minded being so dirty, but more that it might make their training a little more difficult....And it didn't need to be more difficult.

Twistedclaw sighed and mewed in his rough voice, "No...we should probably try something else. The Curve Kick perhaps...but no its too slippery. I would say the Mud Slide, but I think you have pretty much got that one down."

Twistedclaw paused and looked curiously at his sparring partner. He was no expert on emotions, but he could see that that was not a happy face.

"Feathercloud? Is something wrong?"

[Ki]

"Hm? Oh, no! I mean...yes. Sort of. It's hard to explain, really." Feathercloud mewed. She, too, was covered from head to tail in mud. Not that she minded, either. But it wasn't helping matters. "I was just thinking. I'm not exactly the best at this. Or even really remotely good. So how will I be able to stand up to a warrior who really, truly wants to hurt me? Plus...I'm a medicine cat. It's not in my nature to purposefully try to hurt cats." This training was essential, she knew it to be true. With the war approaching fast it would be essential for her to learn how to defend herself. But there were quite a few things blocking her path. Her own lack of skill and her reservations on hurting cats.

She smiled gently. "I suppose it's nothing..Sagewing always said that with a good deal of practice a cat could accomplish anything."

[Yoko]

Twistedclaw found himself straining to understand her. This sort of fragilness was new to him. He, his brothers, and even his former apprentice lacked this delicate nature of hers. She cared about harming enemy cats. Cats who would probably kill her in a heartbeat if it came down to her Clan or theirs. She ended her meek speech by suggesting she would try, but Twistedclaw knew by now it was hopeless. She would never be like him, or his former apprentice...And somehow that failed to anger him. Sighing, he came to a compromising decision.

"No cat is asking you to kill, Feathercloud. It's unnecessary to even considerably damage your opponent." He padded over closer to her, green eyes burning. He was scowling a bit in his effort to impress upon her how serious this was. "We just need you to defend yourself long enough for a warrior to step in and protect you."

He paused a moment, watching her with a dark stare. He could see her injured, bloodied, and under the claw of an enemy. He didn't want that. He would prevent that with all his furious power. Blinking, he turned away, unable to bear hid envisioned sight of her.

"Perhaps I have gone about your training the wrong way."

[Ki]

"Oh no no no!" Feathercloud mewed earnestly. "You've really been a wonderful mentor, Twistedclaw. Honestly you have!" She didn't want to make him feel like he'd failed in some way. The tiny medicine cat was very grateful to him. "I suppose I'm the one that's been thinking about this the wrong way. I've been thinking about how I'll be hurting cats rather than defending myself or my patients." Her amber eyes met Twistedclaw's green ones. "Fighting is a part of life, I know, so is defending one's self to survive. But it's never been a part of like I particularly admired."

She licked one of her paws, managing to clear a bit of the mud off so a bite of snow white fur showed through the murky brown gunk. "But you really have been an enormous help. With everything." Feathercloud smiled at him. "I'll find a way to repay you, I promise." She blinked, then realized just how muddy he really was. Then she realized how muddy she must have looked. Feathercoud giggled. "Oh, goodness...when we get back to camp Specklestar might not even recognize us, we're so filthy!"

[Yoko]

Somewhat pleased by Feathercloud's renewed enthusiasm to train, Twistedclaw considered what he could teach her in defense of her patients and herself. She would obviously never win a fight, at least not without plenty of help from StarClan. But most anything he could teach her in self defense was common sense. They could practice dodging and escape tactics but that was about it.

The Tiwsted Tabby broke off in his thoughts when Feathercloud spoke again. He smirked, "Well, at least this makes a good escape tactic. Imagine, being all coated in earthy mud during rainfall. All you have to do really is lie on your side and wait for the enemy to pass by."

More battle. Was that all he could talk about? He really knew little about anything else. Except a few herbs, which Feathercloud was so kind as to explain to him, though he hardly remembered most of them.

"Here," the Twisted Tabby mewed, circling Feathercloud and heading towards the stream. "If nothing else, rinsing off will prevent it from caking up on our way back."

As much as he despised water, Twistedclaw stepped into the rushing little stream, digging his claws into the riverbed. It was cool, but not icy. The mud around his paws hardly peeled, but the fresh coat along his sides was washing away already.

[Ki]

Feathercloud followed him into the stream, shivering a bit as she entered it. The fresh mud began to come off in the stream, though the mud on her paws still remained. She managed to get a good bit off, though the mud around her paws and legs would have to be taken care of later. She silently rejoiced in the cool water. Sometimes, especially in greenleaf, it could become very hot in the marshes. And, after it raiend, it could become very humid. Sometimes a cat needed to cool down a little bit. The medicine finally decided she was about as clean as she would get without a thorough once-over with her tongue, so she exited the stream. Her long and fluffy fur had fallen due to wetness and clung to her. Without the aid of her fur, Feathercloud looked even smaller. But it also became apparent how slender and dainty-looking she actually was. Feathercloud shook her head a bit, splashing off some of the water on to the muddy streambed.

"That's a bit better!" she mewed. "I can see some of my white fur." Her black and ginger splotches could very well still be filthy, but she'd take care of those later. Her eyes went to the stream again, and she thought about RiverClan. In moons past they'd often allied themselves with ShadowClan. When ShadowClan went to war, would they try to form an alliance, if only to be spared? Or would they simply side with WindClan and ThunderClan? Feathercloud looked across the territory with her amber eyes. Everywhere there were scents of multiple cats. ShadowClan was large. ShadowClan was powerful. But if something didn't give soon, the Clan was going to get too large. So large there wouldn't be enough prey to go around.

"Twistedclaw," Feathercloud mewed, "as a warrior, what do you think of this war tha we're preparing for?" A subtle frown appeared on her face as she looked over the marshes. "I think that it doesn't have to be so...our Clan is getting too big for the territory. We could starve if we keep on this way. But I don't think we have to take territory...say, ThunderClan territory...by force. Surely, once they understood, we could reach an agreement? ThunderClan has so much territory, but so few cats. They wouldn't lose much by letting us hunt on their land for a few moons." Her eyes turned to Twistedclaw now. "But I'm no warrior. I don't know the first thing about wars and how to go about them. But I would like to hear a warrior's perspective on it all."

[Yoko]

Twistedclaw climbed out of the water. It was impossible to really look clean, His tabby pelt was so dark in some places it still looked like mud. The white fur on his chest was showing though. It still had its spots, but he wasn't particularly concerned about being clean. Being able to move was the important thing here. Sunhigh had passed, and it was time to get back to camp.

Twistedclaw was about to suggest that they head back to camp when Feathercloud questioned his views on the war. He looked at her oddly as she explained that she was sure that ThunderClan would understand and share their land. The tabby tom repressed a snort because somehow it would seem rude. But he could not honestly see ShadowClan sharing territory with any Clan no matter how desperate they were. Why would ThunderClan do that? Especially considering that a weak Clan would be to their advantage.

"Feathercloud, as a warrior, I don't make it my business to question our leader's choices," Twistedclaw stated firmly. He wished he could explain to her, make her feel the ecstasy of battle. The thick scent of blood filling the air. The terrified yowls of enemy cats. The exhilaration of dodging, ducking, and weaving throughout the fight. The feel of soft flesh tearing beneath his claws. But there was no way that such a fragile, gentle creature could understand such things. If he spoke them to her, he would horrify her, as every other cat stood horrified and amazed before the Twisted Tabby. Somehow, he disliked imagining Feathercloud frightened of him. "I can't imagine ThunderClan willingly loaning us territory without a price, Feathercloud. Indebting our Clan to the enemy could easily lead to our destruction. Can you imagine the favors they may call upon us? The ridicule we might receieve? I know you believe every cat has the best intentions at heart, Feathercloud. But there are truly evil cats out there. We must not leave ourselves vulnerable to them."

Ha! Evil cats...myself included of course.

"If you want to be properly groomed for the Gathering tonight, I suggest we head back now."