Ready for action {Cedar}

[coyote]

Dawn had just barely broken in the eastern horizon when a pretty, light brown tabby she-cat sprang from the apprentice den and rushed into the cool morning air. Tail held high, Twitchpaw bounded into the center of the camp, ears pricked as she searched the area for her mentor. "Cedarclaw?" she mewed loudly, tail lashing excitedly as she cast around for the large, golden warrior. After a moment the young apprentice realized Cedarclaw might get annoyed with her yowling, and so she promptly sat down in the center of camp and curled her tail around her forepaws to wait. As if appearing simply to give her something to watch while she waited, a shadowy badger lumbered up from the apprentice den and waddled over to her, baring its teeth dangerously. Twitchpaw stared at the hallucination for a long few seconds, until finally it disappeared in a swirling of shadows. I hope I don't get distracted by those today, she thought anxiously, pricking her ears as the light sound of pawsteps reached her.

[cedarclaw]

His name was being called. Cedarclaw rose from his nest in the warriors den from where he was cleaning himself and the tom allowed his paws to carry him to the entrance, He recognized the voice of his she-cat apprentice, Twitchpaw. Ah, so they would have their first training session. Lovely. He was so excited. His large ginger and white frame emerged from the warriors den and he smiled as he saw his apprentice staring slightly dazed in the middle of camp. He waited patiently until she snapped out of her daze, and he smiled once more. "Hello there, Twitchpaw!" Cedarclaw purred with a gentle nod and grin. "Shall we get going?" he meowed, motioning to the entrance of the camp. "Your choice, battle or hunting?" he asked, pushing himself up from the sitting position.

[coyote]

As the badger disappeared, Twitchpaw suddenly realized the cat she had been looking for was standing before her. Oh! she thought in alarm, springing to her paws as she gazed up at the large warrior. Those stupid badgers better not bug me today! she thought angrily to herself. At Cedarclaw's question, her ears perked up in excitement. Battle or hunting? Battle or hunting! How was she supposed to choose? Biting her lip, Twitchpaw lost concentration, and her small head jerked spastically to one side, the action that she was named for. Twitchpaw shook her head in frustration and shot Cedarclaw a sideways glance, wondering if he'd seen it. Battle or hunting? "Battle?" she mewed finally, glancing up at Cedarclaw questioningly. Fighting! Battles! Chasing rogues!

[cedarclaw]

Battle. Alright. So battle it was. As the she-cat thought, he noticed her head jerk from one side uneasily. The tom looked calmly at the she-cat before nodding and smiling gently. "Come on, let's go have some fun with training," he purred, getting swiftly to his paws and batting his apprentice over her ears playfully before bounding toward the entrance of the camp. "Race you to the training grounds?" the large warrior suggested with another smile. This one was a tad more devilish. He wasn't the fastest cat in the clan, per se, but he did love running. Heck, maybe his apprentice would turn out to be faster than him? Maybe he could even get put into shape. Heh.

[coyote]

Fun! Yes, they would have fun! Twitchpaw sprang to her paws and raced after her mentor, running as if the shadowy badgers were hot on her tail. She felt completely hyped with energy, and she had to find a way to get it out so...she ran! Her tail stuck straight into the air and she zigzagged back and forth, bounding over any protruding roots or stumps and glancing around to see where Cedarclaw had gotten off to. Was she beating him, or was he so far in front of her that she'd lost sight of him?

[cedarclaw]

Cedarclaw let out a hearty and happy laugh. "You're beating me," he panted, springing after his apprentice. He was hot on her tail but she was quick. Good, she'd do well in training. The male warrior smiled and slowed his pace. They would be nearing the training grounds soon. "I suppose you should slow down. Don't get too tired before we even get to training," Cedarclaw meowed with a smile. His eyes shone as he strolled into the training ground. It was a nice, sunny day outside but the heat was hardly bearable. He made his way to a shady area and sat down. "Feel free to explore for a little while, seeing as we'll be spending many more moons here before you become a warrior," he chuckled quietly, sprawling out on the soft, sandy ground and rolling around. The cool sand felt nice on his back.

[coyote]

Twitchpaw skidded to a halt, nearly running right into a bush. She whipped around to face Cedarclaw, and watched in despair as he lay down. What was he doing! When he mewed for her to explore, her ears perked back up, and she dashed into the center of the little clearing. The sand was thick and soft here, a perfect place for cats to wrestle and knock each other to the ground. She glanced over at Cedarclaw's large form and gulped slightly. How was she ever going to fight him? A flicker out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she spun around, expecting to see a shadowy fox growling at her. But it wasn't. A bright red cardinal fluttered up from a bush, and she watched as it flapped rapidly away. Another flash of color caught her eye, and she spun around in time to see a rabbit bounding away from them. Again she was distracted, and she spun around again...but this time it was just another one of her hallucinations, and she glared at it in frustration. "Go away!" she hissed softly, and the fox disappeared.

The brown tabby apprentice bounded over to Cedarclaw. She circled him eagerly, tail lashing in impatience as she prodded at his ginger pelt with her forepaw. Enough exploring. She wanted to fight!

[cedarclaw]

Cedarclaw rolled over and jumped to his paws, shaking off his pelt, before circling the she-cat. "Beware, you should always be ready for an attacker," the tom meowed, smirking but his whiskers twitching at the same time. "Just think about me. My body and my build. How would you attack me to bring me down?" the tom asked with a gentle smile. It then turned into a scowl. His pawsteps became quicker and he slid around his apprentice. "You can either tell me what you would do or show it to me yourself," the mentor meowed, grinning devilishly, his ginger tail lashing playfully. "If you decided to attack, just remember to keep your claws sheathed. Try to keep your underbelly protected, or you're in some deep trouble," the tom meowed, nodding. "Keep going, trying to pin me down and let me know when you've had enough," he meowed, coming to a full stop, looking Twitchpaw in the eye and continuing his circling but slower this time.

[coyote]

Now she was nervous. Twitchpaw's head jerked to one side several times as she spun around, trying to keep Cedarclaw in her line of view. He was moving so fast! When he finally slowed down, she did too, and scanned him in an attempt to see where she could possibly attack. He was so much bigger! Should she just try it head-on? Yes, that's what she would do. Crouching down, the brown tabby tensed her muscles, waiting...she sprang forward, claws sheathed, trying to hit Cedarclaw square in the side and maybe...knock him over, or something? She didn't really have a plan.....

[cedarclaw]

Cedarclaw looked head on at the apprentice. So she would be attacking him from the side, so it would seem. As she sprang, the tom jumped back and placed a paw at her shoulder, he pounced away fro her. "You can't get me," he teased, sticking his tongue out. This was a serious battle training session but he would try to keep it fun. He wriggled himself and ran slowly at the apprentice. His eyes were alert, ears were pricked and his body was low to the ground. "When attacking someone, you need to watch them closely. Which way the are coming toward you so you can ready yourself for what they are about to inflict on you," he purred, flexing his claws. He sheathed them and circled the apprentice. "Try again. Try doing something spontaneous," he suggested.

[coyote]

So...her first attempt pretty much failed. Twitchpaw stood back, tail-tip twitching in frustration. She did not have much patience, and already she was getting a bit annoyed. Relax, she told herself angrily, shaking her head in an attempt to knock herself out of her frustration. Focus!

A dark shadow caught her eye, and she turned her head in time to see the dark fox disappear in a swirl of shadows. But now she had an idea. What if she did this to Cedarclaw! Like...distracted him, so she could attack? That could work, right? Shooting her tail up, she searched Cedarclaw with renewed vigor, wondering where she should pretend to attack. Finally, inspiration struck and she sprang towards his tail, jumped back, and then, counting on him turning towards the side she had attacked, sprang toward him again with as much strength as she could pack into her leap.

[cedarclaw]

Ah, so Cedarclaw had fallen for it. Well, not really. The tom tried his hardest to keep his whiskers from twitching as he turned toward where he had been struck and he was pummeled into from the side. Oh. Never mind. The she-cat had tricked him and a grin flashed across his face. He quickly rolled over and sprang to his paws, his apprentice probably sliding right off him. "Make sure to keep me pinned or keep a good grip on me. I understand it's hard right now with your claws sheathed, but it will get easier and will be easier in battle," the tom meowed, nodding. "Now, I'm going to hide and you're going to try to be as quiet as you possibly can and find my scent. I would like you to follow it and try to attack me from a different side vantage point. Don't come straight towards me, that would be quite obvious," the tom meowed with a light smile. "Try to get around me without me seeing you first. If I do, we try again. If I see you a second time, you'll do some running. Helps with your endurance anyways," the tom meowed with a nod. "Either way, we'll do some running after battle practice, sit down for a while back here afterward and talk about what we learned in practice today, either go back to the camp or I'll show you some hunting techniques. Sound good?" the mentor asked Twitchpaw.

[coyote]

Tail shot up as Twitchpaw sprang to her paws, eyes shining with excitement. She had tricked Cedarclaw! Granted, her "full-blown attack" had been little more than a smack compared to a real warrior's attack, but she'd still done it! Her ears pricked forward eagerly as Cedarclaw spoke about hiding and having her find him, though her whiskers dropped slightly and her head jerked to one side in a twitch at the thought of running. Ah, well, let's just not have him see me! she thought brightly. "Sounds great," she mewed eagerly, not even turning her head when she saw the shadowy badger appear out of the corner of her eye; now was not the time for hallucinations! Dropping into a crouch, her tail lashed side-to-side as she waited for Cedarclaw to hide. "I'm ready!" She closed her eyes tight and covered her ears with her paws.

[cedarclaw]

Cedarclaw smiled and slunk away. He made his way silently over near a newly abandoned foxhole. The tom grinned and rubbed his neck along the edge of the hole. He padded over to some thick bushes and hid very closely behind them. The tom waited for his apprentice to be coming along any moment now. He stayed quiet and as still as he could. Maybe he could take Twitchpaw on a patrol to CelestialClan border with Banestar? The tom thought quietly to himself as he awaited his apprentice to come near him.

[coyote]

"Ready?" Twitchpaw mewed, and when she heard no answer, she opened her eyes and looked around. Now what? Her gray-green eyes scanned the area, but she couldn't see anything that would tell her where Cedarclaw had gone. This was going to be harder than she thought. Tail lashing in concentration, she pricked her ears, but couldn't hear anything. Gosh, now what!? Smell? she wondered, tilting her head to one side and sniffing the air. Oh yea, Cedarclaw's scent was here. She opened her jaws, as her mother had once told her to do, and let the air slide over the glands at the top of her mouth. Ah! She sprang forward, following the scent...but went to far and lost it. Frustrated, she backed up until she found it again, and realized that it had turned in a different direction. Following the scent, she came to a fox hole. He has to be in here. It's such a good hiding spot! Padding forward silently, she remembered that he wasn't supposed to see her, so...this wouldn't be a fair hiding spot. There was no way in except through the front.

He's not in there, I bet, she thought, backing away slowly and looking around. But his scent was so strong here! She came closer again, sniffing deeply, and realized that the scent continued to the right. So! She crept forward, following the scent, until she thought she could see a bit of Cedarclaw's tail from behind a big bunch of bushes. Gotcha! she thought, sneaking forward more carefully than before. Nervousness made her head jerk roughly to the side, causing her foot to slip, and she snapped a twig. Catching her breath, she dropped down to her belly, hoping that, if Cedarclaw looked in her direction, she would blend in with the brush. After another moment she crept forward again, and then, when she was just a few mouselengths away from the bushes, she sprang over the bushes with a growl.