pafp ash returns to ash [battle training]

[SCORCHSTREAK]

The threat of war looms over WindClan like a shadow—like an eclipse of the sun, blotting out light, hope. The claws of not one, but two clans hang over them, ready to rip, to tear, to sever WindClan at its roots. RiverClan and ShadowClan want them dead and gone, wiped from the land entirely. But the calico won’t just sit idly by, waiting for an attack to come. No, she’ll use her time under order to stay in camp wisely.

She’d been brash, overconfident, when she last faced an opponent. Cicadastar, a foe clearly so much more powerful than she, but he had made one mistake. He hadn’t killed her when he had the chance. Her shrieking threat had been a last-ditch effort to save her own skin, a cry about his mate—putting her life in the paws of a rumor. The chaos that came after, well, it was a mix of underhandedness and sheer luck. She’d looked death in the face, and somehow walked (limped, very quickly) away from it. But it was clear that, while the second wave had cleaned up extraordinarily and claimed victory for WindClan, Scorchstreak had lost.

She cannot afford to lose another fight.

She knows where she went wrong, assuming that her usual tricks—crouching low, flinging dirt—would work just as well aboveground as they do in the tunnels. But they simply… hadn’t. So perhaps, looking at it a different way could help? Her gaze lands on a familiar form of blue and black, and determination settles in her chest.

Slowly, she strides over to the other warrior, a cat who in another life could easily be a tunneler. She skips pleasantries entirely, but offers the other she-cat a warm smile. "Bluepool. Would you be willing to help me—or any other tunnelers who could use a lesson," she casts a pointed glance over her shoulder, blazing eyes settling upon whichever of her fellow tunnelers she spots first, "with our fighting skills?" Bluepool’s stature makes her a perfect teacher for the similarly-sized tunnelers—because while Tigerfrost is a good friend, she couldn’t imagine attempting to learn anything useful from such a boulder of a tom.

// pls wait for @Bluepool
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[ LIKE A RATTLESNAKE ]​

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[Bluepool]

Upon WindClans creation, plenty of cats had told her that she could’ve been a tunneler, a few even urged her to become one, in fact. Her small size made her a perfect candidate but the idea of having to go underground paralyzed her with fear. She couldn’t imagine herself in those dark cramped spaces, only one way in and one way out with the earth closing in on her. Leave the tunneling to cats who didnt mind such things. The only time she wanted to be under the earth is when she was dead and buried.

She doesn’t find herself talking to the tunnelers much, they lived in their own separate worlds, after all. Her place was under the open skies, the wind in her fur. It was a rare sight to find her in camp, an even rarer sight to see her not do much in general but today the sunshine is intoxicating and she lazes about in the sand.

That is, until a shadow casts itself over her. She opens her eyes slowly, blinking up at the tunneler as she speaks. At first she is confused, what was Scorchstreak asking her? And then it clicks. Fighting. She was being asked to teach other cats how to fight. She feels a small tug in her chest, touched that the other had come to her. She had always thought herself an adept fighter, to hear someone else thought so as well was a pretty big stroke to her ego.

"Of course I can" she was excellent at using her smaller size to her advantage and she’s certain she can teach the tunnelers of wind clan the same. "When did you want to start?" she wasn’t doing anything right now herself, but that didn’t mean that Scorchstride didn’t have other duties to attend to first.

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[cottonsprig]

It's odd to Cottonpaw, seeing in actuality how many cats inhabit WindClan. While normally there are felines in and out on patrols, making the camp feel more spacious, so many tunnelers had been flushed from their caverns and stationed as guards instead, filling out their hollow much more than usual. While she knows the tunnelers better than she knows the moor runners by this point, it's still a jarring change to see them more frequently above ground, when normally she'd spot them in passing whilst underneath the territory. She's not too sure if she's even warmed up to it by now, especially as Scorchstreak approaches Bluepool and asks for help.

The unity of their Clanmates have improved, at least, as each segment of warriors come to recognize their failing attributes. Cottonpaw decides to focus on that and watch the incoming session with wide, curious eyes.​

 

[SOOTSTAR]

ㅤ

SOOTSTAR

WindClan Leader
☆☆★★★★★★★

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HP:​

██████████

Loves:

Hates:

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Sootstar was just about to see if she could gather a few cats for a patrol so she could take Bluepaw out when she saw Scorchstride and Cottonpaw gather to Bluepool. Perking her ears she gathers that they wish to touch up on their fighting skills, StarClan knows that was a good idea…

” @BLUEPAW !” The blue smoke calls to her apprentice who was just padding out from the apprentices den. Once her attention is caught Sootstar flicks her tail to beckon her over, ”This is a good time to start your battle training. Listen to Bluepool and we will train together.”

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[BLUEFROST]

Bluepaw is summoned as soon as she enters the beaming daylight, and she obediently comes to sit beside Sootstar. "This is a good time to start your battle training," the WindClan leader says. Bluepaw's disappointment could be evident in the way her eyes dull, but she only dips her head in agreement. She sees her sister's soft gray pelt, like dawn before the sun breaks, and gives her a nod from where she sits. Cottonpaw had watched Bluepaw's fight with Moorpaw. It must have been evident she needed battle training sooner rather than later.

She flicks her gaze to her aunt, who prepares to spar with Scorchstreak. She admires Scorchstreak, who fought in the RiverClan battle and helped save her father's life. Tunneler or not, she knows it's important to be prepared for anything, so she tucks her tail around her paws and settles in for a viewing.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

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[SCORCHSTREAK]

To her delight, the silvery tabby agrees easily to her request. Good. That’s the first step out of the way, swallowing her pride—torn into scraps as it may be—and asking for help. It’s something that must be done, not only for her own sake but for the good of the clan as a whole. A clan is only as strong as its weakest link, isn’t that how the saying goes? Scorchstreak cannot be that weak link.

She flashes a toothy smile to the other she-cat, tail flicking in satisfaction. Golden eyes catch on Cottonpaw as the gray apprentice approaches, clearly watching the two of them. "Ideally, right now, so long as that works with your routine." She doesn’t wish to intrude upon Bluepool’s downtime, or worse, pull the moor runner’s attention away from her duties.

Sootstar and her own apprentice—and her daughter—have made their way over as well, and the calico tips her head to glance at both of them as well. The more tunnelers who learn something from Bluepool, the better, in her opinion. "You’ve already got an audience willing to learn," she supplies, making her case. She doesn’t think that the she-cat will be too difficult to persuade, but it couldn’t hurt.
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[ LIKE A RATTLESNAKE ]​

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[Bluepool]

The silver tabbies eyes dart to each of the cats who gather, her own sister and her two nieces and she flashes a smile at them, noting that her sister beckons her daughter, her apprentice, closer so that she may watch. Her pale yellow eyes return to rest on the tunneler who stands before her and her eyes narrow in a challenge, though the smile doesn't leave her face. "We better put on a good show then!" she says good naturedly before launching herself directly at the other warrior, aiming to bowl her over. They were about equal size, but if Scorchstreak had been a bigger feline she wouldn't have attempted such a bold move.

"First lesson" she grunts "Always keep your guard up! You have to be ready to fight at any moment." she had learned that one through experience, unfortunately. She remembers the feeling of being hunted, of being prey, remembers how close she had been to death when that fox had taken her tail so many moons ago. She had been young then, inexperienced in the ways of the world and had thought herself untouchable. She had been a fool.

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[SCORCHSTREAK]

She’s caught up in listening attentively to Bluepool’s every word, eager for further battle knowledge—and she doesn’t pay close enough attention to the moor runner’s movements. "Oh-" she’s cut off by the weight of the other cat slamming into her, knocking her off her feet and onto her back in the dirt. The other warrior says that this is the first lesson, and Scorchstreak breathes out a sharp laugh. "I deserved that," she admits, turning her head to shoot a sharp grin at the observing cats. It’s a bit unnerving, to be put on the ground so easily after the disaster of a time she’d had in the river territory. But Bluepool is not Cicadastar, and does not actually mean to kill her, so she stays on the ground for a few moments longer than strictly necessary. After a moment, she twists in an attempt to scramble away from Bluepool and back onto all four paws.

If she’s successful, she’ll plant her feet and drop into a crouch, eyeing Bluepool closely. That trick won’t work on her again, now that she’s prepared to begin. "What’s the best way to defend myself from another attack like that?" Her question is genuine, but also fueled by concern for the apprentices who happen to be watching. Staying on one’s paws is an important part of any battle, and Sootstar’s kits are so small—what if an enemy knocks them onto their backs? And in the case of Scorchstreak herself, she wants to know the best way to avoid her opponent gaining an easy advantage.
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[ LIKE A RATTLESNAKE ]​

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[Cloudedsky]

( ♬ ) Voices to a crows draw the young tunneler near, blue ears pulled forward with curiosity as she spots Scorchstreak and Bluepool speaking to one another. The word 'training' catches her ear and she's piqued with interest as Bluepool leaps for the tortoiseshell, observing them as she settles beside Bluepaw and Sootstar. She offers them a small smile in greeting, not wanting to disturb the two warrior's spar. Cloudedsky could do with more training herself, especially with threats on the rise.
Her aunt, Bluepool, had always been a formidable fighter in her eyes—always on guard as she stated to Scorchstreak. She straightens herself and waits for more, noting to herself that perhaps Bluepool would also agree to teach her as well. Her determination flares like liquid fire within her chest, striving to be the best warrior she could be. Her friend speaks with her now, asking how to defend and she tries to think of an answer herself. For a quick lunge such as that, one would need to gain great reflexes and wit—right? Ivory whiskers twitch in thought, but her mismatched paws burn with anticipation. She itched to spar as well, but would wait patiently for her turn.

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( You should see me in a crown ; I'm gonna run this nothing town )