\late\ .as. |usual|

[mushu]

The lean ginger-and-white apprentice glanced up at the cloudy sky as she raced to the sandy hollow. She cringed at the sight of the sun flitting in and out behind the clouds... Minnowtail had asked her to be there before sunhigh and a half-blind kit could see it was clearly past! Despite her tardiness, Honeypaw was thrilled to be training in the sandy hollow! How far away her aimless life of a kit seemed now! She had no idea what her mentor had planned for her but the thrilled apprentice knew one thing... She was on her way to becoming a full-fledged SkyClan warrior!

Despite the warm air that surrounded her, Honeypaw felt a chill at the thought. But I'm late! What if I never become a warrior? What if I'm exiled and forced to live with the rats in the warehouse? The young cat shook her head, as if trying to physically rid her mind of the ridiculous thoughts, but pushed her paws faster just the same.

Hurtling through the sparse, prickly gorse that surrounded the sandy hollow, Honeypaw skidded ungraciously to a halt. Grit and pebbles scattered around her and she flattened her ears in embarassment. As the cloud settled, she ignored the layer of dust that clung to her fur and opened her mouth slightly to scent the air, her ears swiveling forward as she did so.

"Minnowtail?"

[Kitty]

The morning had come and gone, the dew long since evaporating and the slight chill rising to a comfortable warmth. The sun was creeping past sunhigh as the ginger feline weaved his way through the brush bordering the gorge. Having already been out on dawn patrol, he would no longer be needed for patrols or hunting today. There was no better time to train an apprentice. The frequent clouds that would cover the sun for several moments combined with the breeze kept the early leaf-fall day from growing too hot, as it so often seemed to here near the gorge.

After a bit more walking, Lionstripe led the way into the sandy hollow where the majority of the apprentice battle training was done. With any luck, Lilypaw would be in the mood for learning today. It could be so hard getting her to cooperate sometimes. Luckily Lionstripe was a patient tom.

Upon pushing into the hollow, the tom was surprised to see a lone figure already standing in there. Young Honeypaw, probably waiting for her mentor. He dipped his head by way of greeting. "Waiting for Minnowtail, are you?" he asked, moving aside to let Lilypaw enter the hollow as well. "I don't think I saw her at camp. You're welcome to join Lilypaw and I until she arrives, though." He gave Lilypaw a stare that commanded her not to argue.

[:c a i:]

Lilypaw trailed into the training hollow after her mentor absent-mindedly, not really paying much attention. Hey, she'd vowed that she'd work a bit harder when she was actually in training, but that didn't mean she was going to turn into apprentice of the year. After all, she'd got up especially early to come training that morning, which was already a giant effort on her part. So she sat down when they got in, bending one foreleg to inspect the pads of one paw, frowning as she eyed a speck of dirt on her toe. Ugh,

[/color] she thought, wiping it vigorously. That's what I get for training so early.[/color] How she hated dirt.

Occupied with touching up her fur, since she hadn't had enough time to bring it to its usual immaculate sheen that morning, Lilypaw wasn't concentrating on what Lionstripe was doing. After a vague nod at Honeypaw, who was already in the hollow when they arrived, she tuned out of the conversation. Until, that was, she heard her name "...welcome to join Lilypaw and I..."[/i] She immediately snapped to attention, frowning prettily at her mentor as she rose to her paws, padding over elegantly.

"What?" She looked put out. She-cats tended not to like her, and she tended not to like them. Now she had to train with Honeypaw, against whom Lilypaw didn't have anything in particular, but she wasn't used to sharing. She was about to protest, when she caught Lionstripe's hard stare and fell silent, pouting at her mentor.

"...Fine."[/color][/blockquote]

[mushu]

When Minnowtail did not respond, Honeypaw scented the air again, concentrating harder, just as Lionstripe and Lilypaw joined her in the hollow. Feeling excitement coursing through her from the tip of her nose to the end of her claws, she dipped her head to the older warrior and flicked her tail in a greeting to Lilypaw.

"I'd love to!" The ginger-and-white apprentice trilled, her tail sticking straight up into the air, "Thank you, Lionstripe." Honeypaw added politely, silently praying to her warrior ancestors that her denmate wouldn't object.

Though all Lilypaw had said was fine, Honeypaw could sense the disdain in her meow. She had no qualm with the prettier apprentice, and she had to admit she didn't know much about her, but Honeypaw wasn't about to let her good mood be ruined by a less-than-excited Lilypaw.

"What are we going to work on?" Blinking genially at Lilypaw, she directed her question at Lionstripe, and kneaded the ground impatiently as she spoke.

[Kitty]

Relieved and satisfied that Lilypaw wouldn't make herself too much of a nuisance for offering to let another apprentice train with them, Lionstripe sent her a grateful blink. She didn't seem exactly happy about this temporary development, but she probably wouldn't protest much more about it. She was getting easier and easier to train by the day. Whether he was to be surprised for thankful for that, Lionstripe wasn't sure. But he didn't mind it.

Honeypaw, on the other hand, was beside herself with happiness at his offer. She agreed instantly. Lionstripe wished in a distant part of his mind that his apprentice would get this enthusiastic about her training. He smiled slightly at Minnowtail's apprentice, then turned and walked to the center of the clearing. "Relatively easy day today," he said, directed to both of the she-cats. "We're just practicing the battle moves you already know, trying to make them instinctive." Looking at each apprentice in turn, he went on. "You two are going to practice on each other. Claws sheathed, don't bite hard enough to draw blood. I'll give you pointers after each match." He sat back. "Whenever you're ready."

[:c a i:]

Lilypaw looked up from her paw sharply, gazing at Lionstripe somewhat mutinously. But, determined to take a leaf out of Smallpaw's book, she forced herself to nod jerkily, assenting to train with Honeypaw. At least, she thought, eyeing up the other apprentice, I can prove to Lionstripe that I'm getting better all the time. She felt determined to prove her superiority over Honeypaw, for though they were the same age, she knew she could best her if she tried. Honeypaw was more kind-natured than her; gentle and sweet compared to Lilypaw's flippant, sharp-tongued vivacity, and Lilypaw was willing to capitalise on that fact. Although in many ways, probably, Lilypaw and Honeypaw would be quite similar underneath, but Lilypaw would never show or confess it. Instead, she considered herself tougher, prettier, bolder and more confident than the other she-cat.

And she would show that.

"All right then, Honeypaw, if you're ready."

[/color] she replied, her silky tone slightly bored, slightly indifferent. But her tense posture said otherwise, and her paws itched for a well-executed move.

She narrowed her blue eyes at Honeypaw, tail lashing as she moved gracefully across the training hollow, ready to face off with her. She crouched, long legs folding lightly under her, and did not wait for Honeypaw to make the first move. She was leaping in, elegantly controlling the movement which was becoming ever more polished and practised, masking her intended manoeuvre until as late as possible. She feinted to the right as if she were going to strike Honeypaw on her left side, but diverted at the last second and switched to a frontal blow on her right shoulder. Her little paw flashed out, claws sheathed as ordered by her mentor, and aimed with gusto at her opponent.

She hated to admit it, but there were times in training, such as now, when she really did enjoy it. She pretended to moan and complain to poor old Lionstripe about how dull things were for her, but he ought to know that she was always over-exaggerating. She was grudgingly fond of her mentor and, though she gave Lionstripe a lot of trouble frequently, she still hoped he was proud of her. And sometimes, just sometimes, she would show herself to be a worthy apprentice, when her talent for agility-based battle came out.

Hopefully today would be one of those days.[/blockquote]

[mushu]

Honeypaw watched in silence, her tail tip twitching, as her opponent sized her up. She knew what her denmate was thinking, that she was soft and could be easily beaten... But Honeypaw knew she was better than that. She also knew that most cats, including Lilypaw, considered her to be nothing but soft and gentle, merely queen material... Something she didn't exactly mind. Honeypaw wasn't that keen on becoming a queen and being cooped up in the nursery for moons when she could be defending and hunting for the Clan... But if she were to be remembered as anything, she wanted to be remembered as a cat who loved. Yet it was another thing to say she wasn't capable of fighting for the cats she loved and becoming the best warrior SkyClan had ever seen.

I'll show them, she thought determinedly as she dipped her head in response to her denmate. Hoping Minnowtail would show up soon, she crouched down and readied herself for Lilypaw's first move.

Honeypaw expected the tortoiseshell she-cat to launch a blow at her left side and she prepared to dart forward. But isntead, she was caught off guard as Lilypaw flashed a well-aimed paw at her shoulder instead. Honeypaw stumbled and felt the dirt kick up around her. She ignored it, actually enjoying the down-and-dirty part of training. As she quickly pulled herself back to her paws, Honeypaw began to snake back and forth, zig-zagging in front of Lilypaw. She could feel the blood coursing through her veins and lending strength and quickness to her paws as she continued to weave, about to perform one of her favorite moves. Suddenly, she crouched and used her back-legs to propel herself underneath her opponent's belly. Careful to keep her claws sheathed, Honeypaw rolled over onto her back and pushed up with all her might.

[:c a i:]

Lilypaw felt a buzz of triumph and adrenaline when her paw connected with Honeypaw's shoulder. She had hit her mark, and she was struck by the temptation to flash a glance at Lionstripe to see his reaction to her successful decoy move, thrilled that her disguise had been adequate to allow her a good, hard strike on her opponent. The second she did so, however, she knew she shouldn't have, and turned her attention back to the fight, cursing herself for letting her success overcome her concentration on the next move. If she hadn't wasted that valuable second looking to her mentor, she would have been able to take advantage of Honeypaw stumbling and could have battered into her while she was on the defensive.

Now she had to set up an offensive all over again.

No, worse than that, now she was on the defensive, because Honeypaw was prancing about in front of her, obviously preparing to launch an attack of her own. Lilypaw's jaw tightened and her eyes were temporarily hard, the deep blue darkening in focus. She was light on her feet, her agility always her best asset, and every time Honeypaw zig-zagged and darted one way, Lilypaw shadowed the move, almost like a peculiar dance of back-and-forth movement. Lilypaw was watchful, aware that an attack was coming and trying to decipher it before Honeypaw had a chance to strike. All her attention was on Honeypaw and avoiding whatever she tried to attack her with, because she was not willing to make another mistake so soon in the battle.

At last, Honeypaw seemed ready to perform her move, and Lilypaw watched her like a hawk, tension making her jittery and jumpy. The other apprentice was crouched down, and Lilypaw frowned, still no idea what her opponent was trying to do. Suddenly, Honeypaw launched herself forwards, seemingly aiming for... between Lilypaw's front legs? A strange move; certainly not one that Lilypaw herself had ever attempted, or indeed ever intended to attempt. It seemed like a risky strategy, because though the move might be powerful, it was crude, giving its target a lot of time to flee backwards. Indeed, the sight of an apprentice barrelling towards her and sliding towards her front paws meant that Lilypaw skittishly darted backwards at once as Honeypaw got closer, rearing up on her hind legs and nearly stumbling as she avoided the upwards kick with a mixture of surprise and confusion.

Lionstripe had never educated her about that. Instinct rather than strategy meant that she had escaped the path of the attack, but she did not like coming across a move she had not encoutnered previously. One of Honeypaw's bizarre creations? She thought crossly, still rearing on long back legs, her front paws striking at the air to keep her upright. As she regained balance, Lilypaw's forepaws came raining back down forcefully in the direction of the other cat's prone form, attempting to turn advantage of the situation which presented her with another apprentice in a vulnerable position on the ground. But would she be quick enough to pin Honeypaw down before she got up?

[[I'm sorry to have Lil just completely evade the attack, but I thought about it and pictured it in my head and I'm afraid I don't see how Honeypaw would get all the way through her legs, get underneath her and have enough time to roll over and kick without Lilypaw doing anything to get out of the way. I hope it doesn't seem like GMing. :c ]]

[mushu]

Honeypaw growled in frustration as Lilypaw leapt up to avoid her kick. Mousebrain, she thought crossly, I was too slow! At least Minnowtail wasn't here to see that. I should have just knocked out her front legs! Now I look like a complete beebrain... Focus! She knew she had only practiced the move with Minnowtail a couple times, but she had desperately wanted to catch Lilypaw off guard. By the look on her face, Honeypaw had seemed to accomplish that, but surprising her denmate was all she had amounted to. Taking an enemy warrior by surprise wasn't going to do much if they slitted her throat afterwards.

Still belly-up, the ginger-and-white she-cat could see Lilypaw was coming down from being on two paws to pin her where she lay. Thinking fast, Honeypaw twisted around so that she could throw out her front paws with all the strength she possessed. Aiming for Lilypaw's back legs, Honeypaw hoped that even if her opponent managed to come down on her, she would kick her backlegs out and unbalance her in the process.

[:c a i:]

Honeypaw swiping at her back legs threw Lilypaw completely out of her stride as she soared towards the other apprentice. Grimacing, Lilypaw tried to right herself to continue the attack, but found herself unable to regain control of her fall and ended up continuing in her trajectory towards Honeypaw. She fell heavily forwards, flailing slightly in a last-ditch attempt to right herself, but it was to no avail. After all, having one's back legs kicked out from under oneself tended to make it difficult to continue in a smooth and graceful manner.

Fair play to Honeypaw.

Except for the fact that it had been a desperate move on Honeypaw's part as well, and now she was faced with ten pounds of tortoiseshell fur coming down very heavily on top of her. Not that it was an intentional outcome for Lilypaw, but she had sufficiently quick wits to realise that, even though it wasn't the elegant pin she'd been aiming for, she might still use the fact that she was falling straight on top of Honeypaw to win the fight. Somewhere in the recesses of her mind she knew that there was a danger of her actually hurting her opponent and herself if she fell awkwardly, but it was hardly her fault that she'd been tripped up and was trying not to fall flat on her face. Still, with a bit of luck she would immobilise Honeypaw by sprawling on top of her in what was bound to be a highly undignified manner, but hey. Anything to win.