pafp LETS GET DOWN TO BUSINESS | Kit battle lesson

[Firefang]

She visits the nursery to see Sootstar's kits bringing whatever prey she catches or odds and ends she finds to keep them entertained but today she'd been roped in not by them but by their den mate; a boisterous little she-cat who was a tad grating but showed promise. Better annoying and loud then wimpy! Most of the time she's lucky enough to get away before she's dragged into kit games but today she is the game. She'd only offhandedly brought up showing off some battle moves and teaching the little runts but once they'd taken to it there was no taking back her words and now Firepaw wasn't exactly sure how to handle this lesson. Badgermoon surely didn't struggle this much with her, Burnetkit's little body just was too clumsy for what she was trying to teach but she persisted. Firepaw wasn't the type to give up even when a task felt impossible, nah she'd teach this little brat something.

❝Alright scrap, you need to twist your body more like this. Kinda like you duckin' down to get into a burrow but not enough that you're about to fall over gotta keep your balance! If you fall over in the heat of battle you're crowfood!❞ she really should just be sticking with simple moves but she feels they're too obvious, any cat could pull off a front paw strike but not every cat had the balance to pull off a half-turn belly rake. She does her best to shift her body so Burnetpaw could get an idea she has to hunch herself over to be even close to on level with the kit however. Her paw would gently strike out to lightly touch Burnetpaw's belly before she backs away ❝If you're small enough you can even go under your opponent and do serious damage, the belly is a biiiig weakness for every cat. Though you gotta be quick unless you wanna be squished❞ she still remembers being beneath the weight of that plump ole Skyclan apprentice.

❝Best way to do it is to run at your opponent and do it quick, just run and start leanin' to the side when you get close and strike quick before gettin' away before they can hit you back❞ she explains and truly she has no idea if Burnetkit or any of the other kits watching are even comprehending what she's trying to teach. She backs up though she still bends her legs slightly so she's lower to the ground. Firepaw was big for a windclanner especially for her age, something she was aware of and didn't truly know how to feel about. Right now it was an annoyance, if she stood tall it'd be much more difficult for Burnetpaw to properly pull off the move.

❝Alright, come at me give it your best shot tiny!❞ she'd challenge at last.

@BURNETKIT ​

( ✦ )

 

[BURNETPAW]

Twisting and turning on clumsy and coltish limbs, a storm of flying feet and teetering tiptoes raged, like some sort of untamed conflagration. It was more clumsy than savage, more careless than bestial. The tigrine-pelted Burnetkit fumbled around as she attempted to mimic Firepaw's own graceful movements, lacking the dexterity that growing up usually gave, leaden yet twine movements fell flat from their ending. She could see Firepaw just fine, and see herself doing them even more vividly, but it didn't translate to her own flow. Frustration built up in bird-boned body, as the fledgling prayed to one day touch the sky, though not with down-laden wings and gangling legs. Birds embodied grace, but rarely did they arrive that way. Still, the little girl was impatient. She wanted to learn now.

She had seen how Sootstar had commanded the attention of the Windclanners, embodying a cinder-stained sun, though burning brighter than any celestial body that had taken its place upon the empyrean. A mere word was all Windclan needed to hang onto. A directive was all they needed to move forwards. Adults seemed to stand upon pillars of ivory and marble, unlike the loose ends of her own limbs, which seemed to tremble underneath the weight of casted and bowed shadow. Well, she wanted to cast her own shadow. She wanted to be just like that, even if the bigger kittens tended to pick on her. Tired of feeling like she was too small, like she couldn't stand up to them...

Firepaw's long-winded instructions seemed to constrict around Burnetkit's attention, but it never kept it for long, a flightly serpent of yarn and moss. It fell apart before it had even reached her, but she grabbed at what little scraps she did know. Even if it were like sand in her hand, she would still wrest for it. A fiery determination flooded amber eyes, like the light bathing smooth twin jewels, characteristically unblinking and unbroken. She lunged for the bigger apprentice with all her might, she would give it her all and prove herself... Only to collide her head with Firepaw's side. She fell to the floor, rubbing at where she had struck herself with one forepaw, throbbing slight against malleable yet sturdy skin. "Owwww. Did I do it?"
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[SOOTSTAR]

"Not quite." Sounds the voice of the leader as she descends from the Tallrock and graces the scene with her presence. "For starters you fell, exactly what Firepaw advised to avoid. If you were in a real battle your opponent would be all over you right now, you'd be defeated." Sootstar is critical, but she is hardly using a reprimanding tone. It's a soft voice, one only the youngest of the clan were spoken to with.

"Second, I believe you were asked to go for the belly, no? Blink the sleep from your eyes, focus Burnetkit. Firepaw is a smart apprentice, listen to her and you'll be bounds ahead of the other apprentices upon your promotion." She casts Firepaw a wink, clearly forgetting already that this was the same apprentice who lost against a kittypet a few moons back. Sootstar didn't like thinking about it, so she chose not to. "Perhaps the kittens would understand better with a visual demonstration. Dive at me, Firepaw, show them how to accomplish this move." Sootstar takes a battle stance as if she was a real opponent, her belly if one could get low enough, exposed. Since this was training with kittens, and an example of a move that could very easily cause severe blood loss, she hopes Firepaw finds the common sense that they should train with unsheathed claws. ​

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Spoiler: TAGS ★ 01/07

( primary character / "speech" / ic opinions )​

╰ ★ ჻ 001 GENERAL INFORMATION ,
· SOOTSTAR, female — she / her
╰ ‣ 34 moons . pisces. ages on the first
╰ ‣ windclan leader . marsh-born . believes in starclan
╰ ‣ former soldier of the marsh group

╰ ★ ჻ 002 VISUALS & AESTHETICS ,
· DOMESTIC FELINE, smells like heather and wet dirt , status — 100%
╰ ‣ blue smoke . scarred chest, difficult to see through fur . green eyes

╰ ★ ჻ 003 MENTALITY & MANNERISMS ,
· ESTJ-A ❝ EXECTUTIVE ❞ , Slytherin, Lawful Evil
╰ ‣ Cunning, brash, fierce, confident, self-reliant, envious & selfish
╰ ‣ finds great difficulty in relating to others . can be cruel, usually shows mercy to those she can find sympathy with
╰ ‣ sole key to her heart is loyalty, if you have her trust, she often shows a completely different side of herself. Aggression tends to manifest from her extreme paranoia
╰ ‣ Appreciates titles such as "miss, m'am" etc

╰ ★ ჻ 004 INTERACTIONS & RELATIONSHIPS ,
· SOOT CLAW x PEBBLE BREEZE, sister to Pebblenose
╰ ‣ heterosexual. mate to Weaselclaw
╰ ‣ mother to Windpaw & Sootpaw
╰ ‣ mentor to Smokepaw & Coyotepaw
╰ ‣ average fighter . skilled hunter .
╰ ‣ will start fights . unlikely to flee .
╰ ‣ attack in underline . penned by user @ava.​

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[BLUEFROST]

Fighting and battle is as much a part of her life as milk, bits of fresh-kill, and playing under a wide open sky in camp. It's in her blood, the way WindClan is, the way ferocity is. Nonetheless, Bluekit is not as obsessed with battle and glory as her littermates are. She is not afraid of fighting another cat -- not at all.

On the contrary, it seems just a fact of their existence. One day, Bluekit would go to battle for their land. It is inevitable. And although she does not find the idea exciting or frightening, she wants to be prepared for the day it may happen.

She watches Burnetkit's failure at Firepaw's instruction and glances up with mild interest as Sootstar herself offers to be the dark apprentice's battle instructor. Bluekit sits beside her fire-pelted denmate to watch. "You can practice on me after. If you'd like." She trains her focus, waiting.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

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[VULTUREMASK]

He didn't like seeing kits so young battle training already. It brought back bad childhood memories with his own mother and what she had forced them to do. With the latest events as well Vulturemask was a bit conflicted with certain things happening around in the clan but he was wise enough to keep his mouth shut about it. At least he was relieved to see none of his siblings were taking part of this although he knew very well their apprenticeship was getting close. Another thing for him to feel unerved by. He wonderd if it was natural to feel the way he did or if he was the only one who felt this way. Anyway....it was just another thing he had to deal with. Better for his sibling to get to know about how this world worked sooner rather then later. He couldn't protect them forever and it was better for them if they got prepared early so they could defend themselves.

Since he had nothing else to do at the moment, the calm finally coming after the storm the medicine cat laid himself down at his own entrance to watch, being the eventful thing that was happening around in the camp at the moment. Maybe if his own siblings showed up he could advice them to at least look to learn something today.


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[BURNETPAW]

At Sootstar's stone-steaded criticism, Burnetkit's ears drooped with tips facing the ground. She hadn't wanted to disappoint her leader, and especially not make a fool out of herself in front of her. Despite that, the leader spoke with a downy tone, as though such satin scrawls proved contrary to what she had heard of her fearsome leader. "Sorry... I tried my best." The tigrine kitten murmured. Golden and owlesque eyes did not blink as she faced Firepaw once more, characteristically unbroken stare trained upon the apprentice. Despite Firepaw's rank, she was just as much of an adult as Sootstar and the other warriors were. Founded on just as many marble pillars and polished fangs, as though they were a totally different species from her. She wondered what she would be like when she was that big, and she couldn't wait. A kittenish tail stuck upwards, ready for any action that called, as though her feet itched to prance and cavort upon the frostbitten folly of the ground. Of course, she would wait for her cue. It was best to be obedient to one's peers.

At Bluekit's appearance, she gave her den-mate a toothy smile, ivories sharpened and primed for war like sets of knives. "Yeah! I bet I could beat you with my eyes closed." A trill of a purr escaped the russet-red feline, the sound rumbling against gosling-crafted throat and fluttering from delicate lips. She spotted the medicine cat sitting just beyond them with an observant stare, typical of what little she knew of the other tom. A full audience! She would be lying if she said she didn't have performance anxiety. She had to make sure she was extra prepared for when she would throw herself into the fray next.
/font]​

 

[icebreath]

TAGS — Icepaw finds herself joining the growing audience, albeit from a bit of a distance akin to Vulturemask. She has a mouse in tow, a hard-earned meal after patrolling — the scene unfolding serves as some entertainment to accompany her meal. Sootstar is her main point of interest. Watching the usually stern, intimidating molly instruct Burnetkit with such calm patience is nice; moments like these, same with the way she'd shared her meal and an intriguing story with Icepaw, are so humanizing. It makes things feel so normal. Seeing Firepaw in this setting is admittedly a novelty, too. She hadn't pegged the ebony molly as someone who had any patience for kits, although if there were any context that made the most sense for her to be in with one, this makes the most sense. She must be thrilled to be working alongside Sootstar in this moment; when their leader invites her to demonstrate, Icepaw looks up from her food and stares through intent eyes.​

 

[Firefang]

Her stance is a stiff one as uncomfortable as it is she knows the importance of footing, if by some miracle Burnetpaw managed to get enough momentum and subsequent force in her slash of Firepaw wouldn’t need to worry about toppling over. She also makes sure she watches the kits sloppy movements, she can’t say she shows great promise but she can respect the tenacity. Finally she comes at her and it’s not entirely wrong at first but her weight lays to hard into her front half making her crash into her head first before her paws could do anything more then scrape against the ground as the kit fumbled over. Firepaw laughs; she can’t help it the kit looks silly she’s a pile of limbs and fluffy fur. She doesn’t yet embody the strength of a Windclanner, she’s a child and Firepaw is reminded of that, yet even the children are pushed to get up before they can lick their wounds and try again and again.

Her maw opens to tell her as much, to order her to do it again but Sootstar’s voice sounds from over her shoulder and her head instinctively ducks. Even her softest words commanded Firepaw’s attention; she would watch her as she comes closer. She points out the kits flaws with more grace than Firepaw ever had a chance of vocalizing properly. Her criticism aren’t spat, she wonders if she ever raised her voice at her brother before when they trained. Her silent judgement was far worse than any snarled word in Firepaw’s opinion and in some ways she cannot envy Smokepaw’s position as her apprentice. She’s been under that gaze before, had felt the sting of her disappointment. She’s kindly here but worry still finds a way to sprout in her heart. They do not wither but they still constrict even as her heart skips a beat at the shrouded compliment Sootstar gives her as she continues to explain Burnetkit’s faults in her attack. Smart. She doesn’t think she’s ever been described in such a way. But she doesn’t just say that, no she praises her and the expression on Firepaw’s face wavers beneath the kind gaze of the leader - she winks at her believes in her. Even after her many mistakes. She doesn’t know why her heart still feels so constricted and why her eyes sting.

She blinks it away but the feeling lasts. Sootstar decides to continue to play a greater part in this impromptu lesson and she wouldn’t dare contest. She nods her head ❝Of course, good idea❞ she meows, she’d flash a look Burnetkit’s way as she backs up to give space between her and Sootstar to properly be able to perform the move. She needed to pick up enough speed and needed the space to do that. ❝Just watch me alright? Try not to get distracted by any bugs or anythin’!❞ she’d tell Burnet with a grin.

Sootstar’s presence was bound to summon fourth a crowd, little Bluekit is welcome of course and then there’s Vulturemas’s watchful eye but it’s not him who makes her throat tighten but the presence of Icepaw. Starclan, she couldn’t mess up in front of them - she didn’t think she could show her face again if she both embraced herself in front of them and Sootstar. She flashes a look towards them one she regrets, it’s so quick a darting glance one she instantly averts. She would swallow hard trying to brush aside the anxieties that were banging around in her skull. All she had to focus on was her opponent; it didn’t matter if it was Sootstar she could do this!

She shifts her shoulder her muscles flexing and her claws too would unsheathe. She shouldn’t treat Sootstar too delicate, shouldn’t disrespect her just as she wouldn’t disrespect her mentor or any of the other warriors by hiding her claws as if they were nothing more then kits. With one last breath she would leap into a run powerful back legs kicking off the ground as she bursts into a sprint at Sootstar, she has to lean down to compensate for her size in comparison to the leader. Her body would turn as she ran ever so slightly until she was upon the leader.

One paw lifts from the ground and in a swift movement she ducks and strikes at the same time her claw would attempt to gently take against the abdomen of @SOOTSTAR and if successful she would run a few paces behind the leader sliding on her paws until she was facing Sootstar and the rest again coming to a stop. It wouldn’t be perfect but no battle move could be.​

/mobile
( ✦ )

 

[SOOTSTAR]

Eyes land on the blue fur of her daughter, silently she observes as she offers to be a practicing partner for Burnetkit. The faintest of smile grows on her face, it brought her much joy to see her present and willing to learn. She is going to make a fine tunneler.

The crowd continues to grow with Icepaw and Vulturemask’s additions, but now her focus is back on allowing Firepaw to make her demonstration. With utmost patience she allows the apprentice to strike, wincing just barely when she feels claws press against her stomach. They did not pierce and she wasn’t gutted alive… so she supposed it was okay, after all… she was not weak. I can handle the prick of a claw.

”Well executed.” Sootstar praises, ”I hope everyone paid good attention. Bluekit and Burnetkit, I want to see what you to can do… No claws, another moon and perhaps you’ll be ready for that addition.” It would be up for their mentors to decide, stepping briskly away she hands the reigns back over to Firepaw. If she was needed, she was still present and watching. ​

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Spoiler: TAGS ★ 02/19

( primary character / "speech" / ic opinions )​

╰ ★ ჻ 001 GENERAL INFORMATION ,
· SOOTSTAR, female — she / her
╰ ‣ 37 moons . pisces. ages on the first
╰ ‣ windclan leader . marsh-born . believes in starclan
╰ ‣ former soldier of the marsh group

╰ ★ ჻ 002 VISUALS & AESTHETICS ,
· DOMESTIC FELINE, smells like heather and wet dirt , status — 100%
╰ ‣ blue smoke . scarred chest, difficult to see through fur . green eyes

╰ ★ ჻ 003 MENTALITY & MANNERISMS ,
· ESTJ-A ❝ EXECTUTIVE ❞ , Slytherin, Lawful Evil
╰ ‣ Cunning, brash, fierce, confident, self-reliant, envious & selfish
╰ ‣ finds great difficulty in relating to others . can be cruel, usually shows mercy to those she can find sympathy with
╰ ‣ sole key to her heart is loyalty, if you have her trust, she often shows a completely different side of herself. Aggression tends to manifest from her extreme paranoia
╰ ‣ Appreciates titles such as "miss, m'am" etc

╰ ★ ჻ 004 INTERACTIONS & RELATIONSHIPS ,
· SOOT CLAW x PEBBLE BREEZE, sister to Pebblenose
╰ ‣ heterosexual. mate to Weaselclaw
╰ ‣ mother to Windstrider, Sootchaser, Moorkit, Adderkit, Harrierkit, Bluekit & Cottonkit
╰ ‣ mentor to Smokepaw
╰ ‣ average fighter . skilled hunter .
╰ ‣ will start fights . unlikely to flee .
╰ ‣ attack in underline . penned by user @ava.​

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