Training(Namo/Sunny)

[namosaga]

Mossypaw let her gaze rest on the older, now battle-worn log after Sunstar's newest demonstration. She thought for a moment longer, letting her brother's voice come into her head. Instead of doing one move at a time, why not build on what you have? The gears in her head started to spin, slowly at first, but soon turned into second nature. With a flick of her tail, she started to the starting point. She imagined the log to be the enemy, threatening her clan as Phantom had done.

She started with a run.

Jump and land, the voice of Moonpaw told her as she leaped over the log to the right height. Instinct took over her body as she spun, her body graceful and fluent without any hesitation or pause. She fell beautifully to her paws.

Don't give your opponent even a heartbeat, her instinct screamed, and she didn't give herself a heartbeat before she ranked both claws against the log. But she didn't stop there. No, by now, the adrenaline was pumping in her head and her ears, commanding her body and giving her orders. After all, once Mossypaw's instinct kicks in, it's nearly impossible to let logic back in.

Mossypaw didn't give a second heartbeat before she leaped back from the opponent: her strength is not in brute force nor can she take many hits in battle. However, her stamina is great, her movements are fluent, and her reflexes are quick. She took this opportunity to pretend that the enemy, charged by anger, is turning around and coming after her. She imagined that this enemy would use the same trick that any cat would do. Her imaginary enemy charged and twisted, so that they would get her side. However, she turned as they did, so that she was facing their side instead. With only a heartbeat she sliced her imaginary enemy's side, slid underneath them to trip them, and bit their neck. It wasn't enough to kill, but enough to warn and hopefully make them get the message: surrender.

Mossypaw panted as she looked up from her imaginary fight to look at her golden leader. Adrenaline was subsiding and the energy in her paws finally stopped itching. A smile was across her face, asking Sunstar a simple question: how did I do?

[Sunstar]

At first, Sunstar was confused and wondering what Mossypaw was going to do. The leader moved away from the log and sat on the side, watching her apprentice carefully. The golden leader hadn't realized that Mossypaw would do more moves on her opponent, but was pleased when she saw the apprentice. She is becoming a very good warrior. At this rate. she'll become a warrior in no time. she thought. The she-cat felt proud about the younger she-cat in front of her and knew she had done good by making Mossypaw her apprentice.

When she saw Mossypaw look over to her, Sunstar smiled. "I did not expect you to keep going, but that is good that you did. Remember that in a battle and you'll be fine." she meowed. Sunstar walked over to the brown she-cat and put her nose on Mossypaw's head. "You did very good today, Mossypaw. That is enough training for today." she meowed, "Let's get back to camp and you can have the day off and relax for your hard work." she added, as she padded towards the edge of the island.

[namosaga]

Mossypaw had regained her breath as Sunstar started to compliment her on her battle. A smile came across her face as she was told that it was a good thing that she had kept moving. "It's kinda hard to turn off instinct," she replied when she got the chance. As a kit, it was always a weakness for her, but as a warrior, it might do some good after all. Oh, Moonpaw would be so proud of her when she told him about her training.

"You did very good today, Mossypaw. That is enough training for today."

"Already?" Mossypaw asked, looking around. Her stamina had not quite run out yet, and the sun was just past the highest point. It had only been a couple hours, surely? Mossypaw felt the energy go to her paws again, and she reluctantly followed her leader. "Are you sure there's nothing else I can learn today? Or maybe we could hunt something on the way back?" She asked, overly eager. It couldn't end just yet! There had to be more to do!

[Sunstar]

Once the leader was at the other side of the water, she stopped. Yes, it was hard for any cat to shut off their instincts and that was a good thing to. The memory Phantom came to her mind and Sunstar had to dig her claws into the ground to keep herself calm. "It's a good thing that cats have difficulty turning their instincts off." she meowed sternly. After a while, the golden leader had calmed down and sat down.

Listening to the apprentice, Susntar chuckled. "Alright Mossypaw. Lets stay here for a bit longer and catch some fish." she meowed, padding over to the water. She crouched down at the waters edge, making sure her shadow wasn't over the water and motioned with her tail for Mossypaw to do the same. "I'll teach you how to catch fish first. Riverclan cats will eat fish over, just about anything." she said, letting her eyes watch each fish.

[namosaga]

"I'll teach you how to catch fish first. Riverclan cats will eat fish over, just about anything."

Mossypaw nodded excitedly, softly padding over to her leader with a bounce in her step. She sat down next to the golden she-cat, looking at her and waiting for her to make her move. This would be one of her first hunts, and she was excited! First an advanced fighting move and a lesson in fishing... no Riverclan apprentice could be this lucky.

"What's first?" Mossypaw asked.

[Sunstar]

Sunstar watched Mossypaw come over to her, bouncing more like it, which made the golden leader smile. "Well, first off, you must make sure that your shadow is not over the water otherwise the fish will notice it and not come near you." she said, moving a bit to show the apprentice what she'd have to do just in case her shadow was over the water.

Once the leader had stopped moving, she shifted her weight onto three of her paws. "Secondly, you need to have balance and patience. Be patient while you are waiting on the fish, and balance so that once you have the fish, you can instantly kill it." she mewed, looking to the apprentice for understanding of what she was saying.

[namosaga]

"Well, first off, you must make sure that your shadow is not over the water otherwise the fish will notice it and not come near you."

Mossypaw's ears perked up in attention as she turned her head to where her dark twin rested on the riverbank. Slowly she adjusted so that this shadow of hers did not lean over the water's edge. When satisfied with the adjustment, the brown apprentice nodded at her careful work and looked at Sunstar for the next instruction.

"Secondly, you need to have balance and patience. Be patient while you are waiting on the fish, and balance so that once you have the fish, you can instantly kill it."

With green eyes Mossypaw watched her leader get into position- three legs balanced and one ready to strike at a moment's notice. The brown apprentice tried to get into position as well, which was a little harder than she thought, and waited, watching the water. She could guess what she had to do next: fish the fish out of the water, of course!

She concentrated on the movement of the water, just waiting for a nice sized fish to come by. It took several moments until a nice bass had started to get close. The brown apprentice waited for the right moment to strike, only fishing it out of the water with her paw when it was in reach.

It landed on the ground not too far from the bank and starting flopping around. Mossypaw couldn't believe she got one.

"I got it!" she exclaimed, a little to late. By the time the last word escaped her mouth, the bass had found its way back into the water and happily swam away.

[Sunstar]

Sunstar watched the she-cat catch a fish, but not kill it. The golden leader watched as the bass flopped back into the water, then her attention went back to her apprentice. "Be quick, Mossypaw. Once you have your catch, kill it instantly before it gets away like that one had." she meowed,mbefore turning her attention to the water. Silently, the leader watched the water with interest, and once she saw a fish Sunstar held her breath.

When the fish came closer to her, the leaders black paw vanished into the water and a moment later, a fish flew out of the water. Turning quickly, Sunstar caught the fish in her jaws and bit down, killing it with ease. She sat it down and looked over to Mossypaw, "Try again Mossypaw." she meowed firmly. "Be quick once you have gotten the fish out of the water. Don't hesitate."

[namosaga]

"Be quick, Mossypaw. Once you have your catch, kill it instantly before it gets away like that one had."

Mossypaw's gazed dropped as she played with the ground near the bank's edge with one claw. That was suck a stupid mistake, and boy, was she embarrassed! But no matter, she just had to try again and try not to make the same mistake! A bit more confident, Mossypaw sat at the edge of the river and waited, four paws balanced and one ready to launch.

In the water another fish swam closer to her.

When the time was right, the brown apprentice launched her paw into the water, fishing it farther out into the grass. Given more time to react, Mossypaw leaped to the fish and bit down on its neck killing it. The taste of fish was good, but she had to stop herself from eating it there. After all, the code says that the clan eats first. Instead, she started a fish pile and went back to waiting at the water's edge.

[Sunstar]

Sunstar crouched down next to her apprentice and waited for another fish. Waiting silently, her mossy green gaze would glance over to Mossypaw, waiting to see her catch a fish. A smile formed on her face when she saw the brown apprentice do so, but came right back to started to fish more. I'll pride her when we are done fishing. she thought, as she to began to fish as well.

After a few minutes, Sunstar stopped and looked at the pile of fish. Nodding she turned to Mossypaw, "That is enough Mossypaw. We have enough to feed our clan and more if need be." she meowed, walking over to the apprentice. "You did well today Mossypaw, and I am to be called your mentor." she added, purring slightly with pride.

The golden she-cat then walked over to the fish pile and grabbed some fish in her jaws by the tail. "Let's take these back to camp and feed our elders, shall we?" she mumbled around a fishes tail.

[namosaga]

Mossypaw had stopped what she was doing, looking back at the pile that the two cats had managed to gather. There were some small, little, blue fish, but they were balanced out by large, darker colored fish. There was enough for the clan, and she felt proud. But at the same time she was feeling tired. First fighting and now hunting one back to back, it took a toll on her.

The brown apprentice nodded to her golden mentor and started to pick up the fish, trying to fit as many as she could in her jaws. It was a ridiculous sight, seeing all these fish protruding from a cat's jaws that stretched as wide as they could. Once everything was as balanced as it could be (which wasn't very balanced to begin with), Mossypaw began the trek back to camp with her leader.

[Sunstar]

Sunstar watched her apprentice, before she began to help her gather the fish. Making their way make to camp, Sunstar kept her eyes on her apprentice. She knew it had been hard on the young she-cat. I won't train her like I did today. Tomorrow I'll let her rest. she thought as they walked into the camp. Going over to the fresh-kill pile, Sunstar put the fish down. She looked over at her tired apprentice.

"You did very good today, Mossypaw. Let's take some fish to the eldrs then you can go and rest. Tomorrow, we won't train." she meowed, picking a fish up in her jaws and walked slowly towards the elders den. She put down a fish in front of her elder, bowed her head in respect and looked to Mossypaw. The leader was very proud of her apprentice.

[namosaga]

"You did very good today, Mossypaw. Let's take some fish to the elders then you can go and rest. Tomorrow, we won't train."

Mossypaw, albeit tired, nodded. She had put her fish in the fresh-kill pile, save for one or two, and headed off to the elder's den. When she had gotten there, the fish went straight to the elders with a respective bow of her head. She looked to Sunstar, almost asking to be dismissed.

Once she had gotten it (I'll assume), she headed off to the fresh-kill pile once more. The entire day she had not gotten anything to eat, and her stomach was clawing at her. The brown apprentice picked one of the bigger catches and decided to sit down at the edge of the apprentice's den. Every once and a while her meal would be interrupted by a few yawns.

[Sunstar]

After they had given the food to the elders, Sunstar looked over at her apprentice. She could clearly see that Mossypaw as tired and hungry, so she nodded her permission and watched as the young she-cat went over to the fresh-kill. Sunstar promised herself not to train the she-cat to hard next time, wouldn't want her tired during a battle...if one ever happened.

OOC: I'm guessing this thread is done with?