Ember
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Posts: 354
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Post by Ember on Jun 20, 2011 10:57:50 GMT -10
Dovepaw sped through the trees. She had no idea where she was going, Duskstorm hadn't taken her to explore yet. This was her first time outside of the camp. Everything smelled so different and fresh. She could hear mice and other prey scuffling about, it all smelled so good. She suddenly wished she knew how to hunt. She tried to scent her way to the hollow then something smelled awful good. She stopped and padded slowly to a bush, her head cocked with curiosity. The bush was covered in flowers and they smelled amazing. They smelled like her mother, she let the scent enter her nostrils and closed her eyes.
She found other scents to follow and smell. She just let her nose guide her. After a couple minutes of this, she remembered she was supposed to meet Duskstorm at the training hollow. She better get there quick. She began to run to where she thought it was. She stopped, where was it? Uh-oh, maybe she should've stayed with Duskstorm. Oh well, I'll just go back to camp and have someone show me where it is. Wait...where is camp? This isn't good.
She sat down, scared. She was lost in the woods. What if a badger or a fox got her and she was never found. She began running again. Maybe if she called, Duskstorm would hear her. "DUSKSTORM! Duskstorm! I'm lost, Duskstorm! HELP! Duskstorm!" She stopped and looked around panting, she was scared now. She felt her heart sink when a twig snapped behind her. It sounded like something was running towards her. "AH, no! It's a badger I'm gonna die!" She closed her eyes and ran again, refusing to open her eyes. Suddenly there was no ground under her feet and she plunged into...water. Oh no! The river! She had fallen now she was gonna drown and be eaten by a badger. What a way to go! She felt something grab her scruff and pull her out. She was looking into a very angry cat's eyes. "H-hi,, Duskstorm..." She mewed softly.
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Post by Cloudbat on Jul 18, 2011 10:02:47 GMT -10
Cloudbat: The tortoiseshell walked leisurely, enjoying the slight wind whooshing around the sparse trees in the dull green landscape. No marsh smell, but then there was surprisingly little for the territory. It was a bit bright, and dead leaf-bare leaves still crunched around her paws or got caught in her fur, but the atmosphere was quite pleasant, really.
Or it was until she heard a familiar voice calling her name in panicky cries. Oh for crying out loud, growled the lanky warrior in her head as her ears twitched and her orange eyes narrowed. Can't she survive five minutes without me holding her paw?
Apparently not. Well, what else did she expect of a kit? Sighing in annoyance, the warrior nevertheless set off toward the source of the noise at a decent clip, the long grass brushing her underbelly as she strode rapidly through it.
Well she did, too. The little mouse-brain was running with her eyes shut (the hell?) into the foxing river. Swearing enough to make StarClan blush, Duskstorm shot forward and grabbed the tiny bi-colored she-cat, barely managing to heave her out. "Hi, idiot." She snapped back. "I almost wish it HAD been a badger instead of me, maybe it would've taught you something before you went to StarClan! I mean really, running with your eyes shut? Do you WANT to get eaten, or killed? Furthermore, do you want to drown? Can't you hear the BIG OBVIOUS RUSHING SOUND of WATER? Oh wait, you're a kit. A kit who apparently thinks she's invincible and tries to prove it by attempting suicide! STARCLAN, Dovepaw! Don't you ever think?"
Oh, but it did feel good to get all that anger out. Of course, shame was rapidly replacing it. Dovepaw was a complete mouse-brain, but it was Duskstorm's fault as well. She should've gone with Dovepaw to the hollow and shown her things along the way. She should have remembered her duty instead of acting like a kit herself. Why did Cloudstar ever make her a mentor when she could so obviously not handle it? Second day on the job and her apprentice almost dies. Brilliant.
She looked at the sky and sighed, both physically and mentally.
"Look, I'm sorry about that. It was my fault too. I am angry at you, but sometimes even when you don't do things wrong I'll still be angry because...I have mood swings, okay? I don't know why or how, but I do, and unfortunately I don't know how to get rid of them."
The next part was going to be even worse, but it had to be said.
"Look...I never asked for this job. I'm barely a warrior. You're a nice cat and all...but you need someone better than me to train you. Unfortunately, I can't change that. What would I say? 'Oh, sorry Cloudstar, I'm giving up after two days because I just can't do this. Kay thanks bye.'
A warrior sticks to things even when they don't like it. That's what being a Clan cat is about. So we're both going to have to get used to each other. I promise to try to be a better mentor if you promise to try to think. Deal?"
She held her paw to her mouth and licked it, then stuck it out, waiting for Dovepaw to respond to the promise with the same, hoping it would be all right. Please, let it be all right.
Ember: Dovepaw lowered her head. She had made Duskstorm angry. She hadn't meant to, but she did. She loved her mentor, but sometimes she wondered if it would've been better for Duskstorm to have a different apprentice. She loved being her apprentice, but she just knew Duskstorm didn't love being her mentor. "I am sorry Duskstorm. I'll be good and I won't do that again. I'll think next time." She kept her head low and she began walking with her mentor at her side, trying not to escalate the tenseness between them.
Dovepaw's heart ached, she never seemed to do anything that Duskstorm liked. She knew Duskstorm was moody, and she usually let her spout off and didn't care. But now she cared because she knew Duskstorm had reason to be angry. Dovepaw looked up at her mentor, there was no doubt she was upset. Dovepaw had been stupid to do what she did. She wondered if Duskstorm was going to hate her for the rest of the time she had her as an apprentice. She wondered if there was anything she could do to make Duskstorm like her. They were approaching the Training Hollow. Great, now she could fail at learning to fight, which would make Duskstorm even angrier with her.
She sighed and spoke, "Duskstorm, I know I make you mad and I know you wish you had a different apprentice. But I love being your apprentice. Your very smart and pretty. I look up to you and I wanna be just like you when I am older. I just want you to know that, so maybe you won't feel so bad about having me as an apprentice. And about the mood swings, they're a part of you. They are what makes you...well, you. Just like the annoyingness makes me...me. The moodiness is one of things I have already learned to live with and I actually kind of like it. It's like an older version of my brother...except. He's angry all the time." She cocked her head hopefully at the she-cat beside her.
Cloudbat: Duskstorm looked her apprentice quizzically. "Good to know you won't drown yourself again." She sighed. The little she-cat really did seem to be put down. But in all fairness, she did need a warning to wake up or something was going to get her.
"Well, it's not so much that you make me mad - okay, you do, but I know you're not trying to. Different apprentice? I just don't want an apprentice, period." She laughed.
The tortoiseshell yowled at the sky in laughter, then still giggling tried to reply to the little she-cat. "Oh, sweet little naive Dovepaw. I'm not particularly smart and my prettiness is debatable, and it's not important anyway. HA. Trust me, I am the LAST cat you want to be like, and I am the last cat you CAN be like. We're so very different you have no idea." She breathed in and out, trying to recover from the silliness.
"Feel bad about having you as an apprentice? No, I feel bad for you having me as a mentor." she said bluntly.
"Ha, making me myself. You like my mood swings? You are very strange indeed. What, Stonepaw? Yeah. He'll probably grow out of it when he realizes he's wasting his energy. I'm normally not very angry, but like I said, I don't control this."
Duskstorm paused for a few moments, looking off into space, and thought. Dovepaw did irritate her, but she was clearly willing to try and make amends. And...Duskstorm had said they were nothing alike, but that actually wasn't true. They had both lost their parents. It was their only unifying factor, but the warrior would try to use it to connect and care about the gray and white cat.
"Okay, enough sappy talk. Let's get to the hollow and do things." Thus saying so, she got up, stretched, and padded off in the direction that would take her to the sandy hollow.
Ember: Dovepaw stared at her mentor. "None of the things you have just said about yourself is true! You are an amazing mentor! Don't put yourself down, because none of it is true." Dovepaw blinked up at her mentor. She hated hearing Duskstorm say those things about herself. The things she had just pointed out was what made her admire her. She wanted to be pretty and smart like her. She wished she was more serious like her. She knew she annoyed and got under the tails of every cat in the Clan. She wished she wasn't like that but she was.
Dovepaw sighed, as she took her position in front of Duskstorm. "So, what are we going to learn, Duskstorm? OOH! Can I show you how I pin someone?" She lowered herself to the ground and laucnhed at Duskstorm, claws sheathed. She hit Duskstorm and bounced off onto the ground. Her attack didn't seem to affect the Warrior. She looked up at the she-cat, afraid of being snapped at. But she could've sworn she saw a flash of amusement in her mentor's eyes. "It works better on Stonepaw." Dovepaw pointed out quietly.
Cloudbat: It was sad amusement that made the tortoiseshell’s gaze soften. Ah, the doom of innocence. Dovepaw simply had no idea, and even Duskstorm, master of dirty knowledge and unvarnished bluntness, couldn’t bring herself to spoil it yet. Let her believe her mentor was pure. She’d figure it out soon enough.
Then she frowned as the little fluffball catapulted herself at her. Duskstorm’s ears flattened from the admittedly weak impact and her claws sunk into the grainy, wet ground as she accidentally bit her tongue, the salty blood spurting right onto her taste buds.
She spat it out, shook her head, and glared at Dovepaw. Her gaze subsided after a moment, however, as she knew the apprentice had intended no harm. The orange circles were half-closed, somewhat amused as the lanky tricolor took a few steps forward and glanced back at the gray-and-white kit who looked both lost and eager at the same time, sprawled on the yellowing grass, head tilted as she spoke quietly.
“Mm, I’m sure.” Said the StreamClan she-cat. “But he won’t be your only opponent, so you’d best learn moves that will work on a variety of cats, eh?
They walked for a bit longer, and in a short while they reached a rough almost-circle of a stone wall with a floor of dust inside, the sparkling granite walls bright in the sun, incongruous against the marshy landscape.
“Training starts for real now, and this is the best advice I can give you: Be on your guard. You never know who’s going to injure you, or when, in battle. Attack can come from anywhere.”
With that the dark warrior padded smoothly inside, fluffy tail waving, and sat down in the middle of the hollow.
“Now, try and hurt me however you can.” Acting so ridiculous that my brain is in pain doesn’t count, she added in her head. Now she’d see what the little cat was really made of.
Oh sure, not much would happen, probably. But it would be interesting to see how she behaved, given no instruction or limitations. It would just be too infuriating to start off by going over all the boring basic crap apprentices learned, and Dovepaw probably wouldn’t listen anyway.
Ember: Hurt her?! Oh no, Dovepaw didn't want to hurt Duskstorm! Oh well, she probably wouldn't do too much damage so she readied herself. Dovepaw took her position again, she flicked her tail back and forth. She was ready. Making sure her claws were sheathed, she launched herself at Duskstorm once again. Boom, she was back sprawled out on the ground. Slightly frustrated, she got back up. She launched herself at her mentors neck, only to find herself hanging. She let herself drop and looked up at her mentor.
"I'm so sorry, Duskstorm. I can't do it. I'm a failure already." She stood and hung her head. She was never going to impress Duskstorm, ever! She took a few steps back. She knew she had to keep going. Giving up wasn't going to get her anywhere.
She took a new position and began circling her mentor. She had to get her this time. This was going to work, it had too. She kept her eyes focused on the tri-color she-cat in front of her. She fluffed out her fluffy grey and white fur. She kept circling, letting her paws step in even strides. She launched herself at her mentor hoping she would succeed this time.
Cloudbat: This is better than listening to Kitewhisker predicting doom, the tortoiseshell thought. I should pit Dovepaw against a spider, or maybe a butterfly. She’d have more luck.
She was struggling to hold in laughter as the little ball of fluff bounced off her like a frog and skidded slightly on the dusty, warm ground. Duskstorm definitely had a future topic of conversation now. It was even sillier when Dovepaw tried to cling to her neck and she shook off the dainty little claws like fleas.
When the bi-colored kit sounded so defeated, the tortoiseshell warrior tried to give her an encouraging look, but it might have just come out amused. Still, at least she was trying – heads up!
The StreamClanner automatically crouched, flattening herself so that Dovepaw overshot and FOXES! Landed on her tail. Hmm. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea. She’d forgotten Dovepaw’s smaller size, which would mean her momentum wouldn’t carry her as far.
She twisted as well as she could, nose filled with the scent of dust and stone, and looked at her charge, half amused and half exasperated. “Well, you’ve got me. Now, how would you damage me?”
The best answer would be to bite at the base of Duskstorm’s tail, then while she was distracted by that, pounce on her and flip her over to rake her underbelly. Let’s see how little miss innocent puzzles it out, thought the skinny warrior.
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Ember
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Posts: 354
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Post by Ember on Jul 20, 2011 20:56:59 GMT -10
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Dovepaw launched herself at her mentor. She felt it, she was gonna get her. She was going to take out Duskstorm! Finally! She could prove her fighting skills to her mentor. She wouldn't be a failure. Wait a second, did Duskstorm just duck? Oh no, she did! Dovepaw flailed her long limbs. She knew right away this was gonna hurt. Ooof! She hit the ground with a thud....well...not the ground but something else...uh oh. Duskstorms tail! Oh she was dead, she was so dead. "I'm so sorry, Duskstorm. I didn't mean to land on your tail."
Wait, did she just say I had her??? She did! How do I damage her... hm...how do I? The young she-cat considered sinking her teeth into her mentor's tail but she knew better than that. She knew! She could leap onto her mentor's back and grip her from there. Maybe sink her teeth into the back of her neck. That's how a mountain lion does it! It always works for them! She thought triumphantly. Time to play this out. She leaped and began to carry out her plan.
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Post by Cloudbat on Jul 21, 2011 15:25:33 GMT -10
The tortoiseshell laughed; she couldn't help it. Annoying Dovepaw might be, but she was highly amusing as well. "Sorry that you managed to do something right? Oh, I'm ever so mad at you." She replied, twisting her head to grin at the petrified-looking gray and white apprentice.
The sun was in her eyes for a moment and the tortoiseshell blinked, just managing to roll before Dovepaw slammed down on her. She stood up and shook her long coat, little pebbles crunching under her paws as her apprentice's scent filled the air.
"First lesson, Dovepaw. Don't let go of an opponent if you don't have to, otherwise you give them a chance to escape. Don't be fooled if they play dead, either - many cats will try that trick to make you relax your muscles, and they'll pounce right back up."
Duskstorm paused for a moment, considering what to do next. Dovepaw seemed like the kind of cat who learned by example, so she should introduce another basic lesson.
"Okay, now you're going to try and get through my defenses. You can choose any way you like." She smiled, wondering if Dovepaw would catch the trick. Nevertheless, she crouched, tail bushed in anticipation, the joy of battle - even practice battle - in her heart. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.
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Post by Cloudbat on Jul 25, 2011 8:50:57 GMT -10
 Duskstorm was annoyed for a split second, but then looked at the little she-cat, satisfied. "Good question. There is no right answer, but the obvious one would be that you would attack me. However, if you provoked me to attack you, that would break through my mental defenses - and give you the upper paw because my judgment would be blinded."
She grinned teasingly at the gray and white she-cat. "So, what will you do? Attack me, or get me to attack you?" This really was quite fun. Duskstorm had many faults and failings - she admitted it - but there was nothing she liked so much or was as good at as battling.
Swish, smack! The yowls of pain were so thrilling, the scents of blood and fear like meat and water. What might have overwhelmed or scared another cat enraptured the tortoiseshell. She enjoyed causing pain to enemies - even feeling it, when she felt so alive. She knew good warriors only fought when they needed to...but everything was so clear when fighting, so simple. Live or die. Fight or surrender. Wound and wounded.
She didn't have to puzzle out whether she truly was good or evil when she fought. There wasn't a middle ground. Unlike all the time, when nothing was easy to see. [bg=ede9cb][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true] |
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Ember
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Posts: 354
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Post by Ember on Nov 16, 2011 19:44:26 GMT -10
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Hm, so if I get her to attack me I will have the upper hand? Dovepaw paced around Duskstorm. She stepped slowly, staying under extreme concentration. How will I provoke her? She felt her gaze become affixed on the tortoiseshell in front of her. Her paw steps were soft, but strong. She needed to get her mentors attention so she could carry out her plan. "Hey, Dusky!" Oh boy, Dovepaw you are being so disrespectful...and you are only going to get worse. I hope this plan works.
The young bi-colored she-cat watched her mentors gaze snap back to her. She didn't see too much anger in her eyes just yet. Duskstorm needed to be angry before she made her move. I'm just going to have to be more disrespectful...Oh StarClan, forgive me. Please don't let her get too mad at me...
Dovepaw kept circling, keeping a steady, focused, and determined pace. She glanced behind her slightly every so often to make sure she had enough room to move quickly as she would need to if her plan worked. Paying extremely close attention to her mentor's body language, she would need every advantage she could get. She puffed her head up confidently. I hope this works...
"Remember what I said earlier? About you being pretty and nice? Yeah I take that back, I never meant any of it!" Oh no, I've said it. I really did mean all those things I said earlier. What are you doing Dovepaw?! "You're actually the exact opposite, all those weird colors and speckles on your fur. And the mood swings, I mean really?! What's with those, nobody's EVER going to like you if you keep doing that?!" Well if that didn't provoke her enough, Dovepaw didn't know what would. She knew she'd better apologize to her mentor immediately after this. Because she truly didn't mean what she had just said.
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Post by Cloudbat on Nov 17, 2011 5:19:04 GMT -10
OOC: A WILD EMBER HAS COME BACK TO LIFE! HUZZAH!
BIC: Duskstorm laughed; she couldn't help it. She laughed so hard she nearly choked, gasping, as she fell to pieces, rolling around in the dust. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAAAAAAA...ahahaha...snort." This was absolutely priceless. Just...priceless. Dovepaw certainly had the upper paw now - if she attacked, the tortoiseshell was too busy giggling to do a thing. Yes, that should be her apprentice's strategy. Laughing her opponents to death. It would certainly work better than trying to attack them.
Perhaps this whole mentoring thing had its perks after all.
She stopped laughing out loud, but still giggled under her breath, her fluffy tail sweeping over the dust as she grinned up at her apprentice. Oh, why not give her a shot? This was too amusing to even pretend to be proper training, anyway. [bg=ede9cb][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true] |
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Ember
Awesome Member
Posts: 354
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Post by Ember on Nov 17, 2011 9:04:44 GMT -10
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Dovepaw stayed tensed up. What was Duskstorm doing?! She kept her focus, in case Duskstorm was trying to make her put her guard down. Duskstorm kept laughing and didn't make any attempt to attack her. Dovepaw was frustrated, if her apprentice had said that to her she would have been plenty mad. She fluffed up her fur in irritation. Why didn't it work?!
The apprentice stopped pacing and cocked her head. Poor Duskstorm was having a laughing fit down there. What in the name of StarClan was so funny?! She looked behind her, nothing there. She let her fur lie flat and she glared down at her mentor. She was starting to have her feelings hurt. Why was Duskstorm laughing? "What's so funny?! Why aren't you mad? I was mean and it was supposed to make you mad!"
Duskstorm had stopped laughing now. Dovepaw looked at her. Why wasn't she getting up? Her calico mentor just lay on the ground smiling at her. Was the young apprentice missing something here? Then she realized she had her mentor defenseless on the ground without even trying. She had the upper hand! Now she knew why Duskstorm hadn't gotten up, she was trying to get her to attack!
With a growl the fluffy apprentice launched herself right in the middle of her mentor. She kept her claws sheathed. Hey, this was fun! She laughed as the two scuffled on the mossy ground. She still didn't get why Duskstorm had laughed, but this was a lot of fun! No wonder Stonepaw liked this so much!
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Post by Cloudbat on Nov 21, 2011 6:23:17 GMT -10
"Mean? You wouldn't know mean if bit you on the a...nose." snorted the tortoiseshell. So distracted was she that Dovepaw managed to land right on top of her. Well, it had worked, if not in the normal way. The older she-cat was surprised; though lacking in strength, the little apprentice was clinging quite determinedly. Her technique needed work, but it was right in principle. Still, it wasn't hard to fling her by kicking her backward with Duskstorm's powerful hind legs - though more gently than she would have done to a warrior of another Clan. Getting up, shaking the dust off her pelt as she did so, Duskstorm looked slightly more favorably upon the gray-and-white little cat. "Not bad. It's good to know what your favored technique is early on - yours seems to be incapacitation by laughter and then pinning." She said dryly, but with a smile on her face. "Now, come at me again - but make sure I can't get free. You don't have the necessary weight to keep me pinned, so find another way to immobilize me." The long-furred warrior stood, fluffy tail twitching, as she waited for Dovepaw to make a move. Boy, she was getting hungry. Maybe they'd fish afterward - this wasn't a hunting patrol, after all, so they could eat when they pleased. Well, she could. Dovepaw still had to hunt to feed the elders. She felt a twinge of guilt, but suppressed it. Everyone had to pay their dues. [bg=ede9cb][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true] |
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Post by Cloudbat on Dec 22, 2011 11:26:54 GMT -10
It was kind of cute to see her simplistic little brain furiously working out how to do this mysterious thing called battle. But it soon became boring, and she yawned slightly, her pink tongue curling in on itself as she gazed to the side. Whatever her apprentice came up with, she could certainly - oof! Clever, thought the tortoiseshell grudgingly as the small cat dove under her with ease. She was too surprised to do anything except grunt as she was upended, lanky limbs flailing. This would have been a perfect opportunity for Dovepaw to attack. But instead she pinned her. The warrior was almost disappointed, though she knew that's what she'd told Dovepaw to do. However, it was becoming apparent that that tactic wasn't of much use to the tiny StreamClanner - and perhaps it wouldn't be. As much she needed to be educated in all areas of battle, Duskstorm realized that she had to let the gray-and-white she-cat develop her own style, too. Of course, she would be the guiding force to doing that. Blinking the dust out of her eyes, she looked into the huge blue circles staring anxiously down at her. Such innocence. It seemed almost a pity to spoil it. But that's what Clan life was about. "Yes and no." She finally answered, neutrally but with a note of approval in her tone. "Your strategy was fine, but your pin is poor. This isn't your fault; you don't, and perhaps never will, have the necessary weight to pin anyone. I should have realized that. This doesn't mean that practicing immobilization techniques is useless; far from it.
It's good for you learn how to use them, and in return, how to counter if they're used on you. But I've realized something important; I also need to teach you how to develop your own style. It's all right if you understand all of this yet; I don't expect you to. But know you've truly started to learn how to be a warrior."Good StarClan that sounded corny. Yet, to her own surprise, she meant it. OOC: Do you want to end this thread, Ember? I've had a lot of fun with it, but this could be a finishing post. On the other hand, if you want to continue, that's fine with me.  |
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