]Even if the mood in windclan was rather dire right now Sunsetpaw could not let it affect her duties or training for that matter. In a such dark time someone had to keep thier heads straight. What better way was it then to keep on improving as a apprentice?. It was even more importand now when the enemy was flying above thier heads. Sunsetpaw surely wasn't gonna lose to some birds that would be far too embarassing...especially with how far they had come. Every single day she was training from the first light of morning until the sun far had went down. Her mentor for sure didn't went easy on her thanks to the kittypet blood running through her veins. In truth it had not been some easy couple of months for the former kittypet who had been in thier mercy at the border that fateful day. Sunsetpaw for sure would have died out there if not thier savior Sootstar had decided to take them in along with other kittypets during that time. It was thanks to her that Sunsetpaw stood here today and she would forever be grateful towards that dark smoke. Sunsetpaw owed Sootstar her life and she was planning to return all of it back even with her own life if she had too. Everything she was doing now was to one day serve them as thier most devoted and loyal warrior. She was gonna make sure that Sootstar never would have to regret ever taking her in. Until that day she refused to lose to anything or anyone.
Sunsetpaw had found herself a sparring partner for the day, and it actually worked very well in her favor this far. The two apprentices wanting both to impress thier mentors as well to test thier skills this far...Well, to be blunt about it the brown sepia had completely zero interest to impress her mentor. The two didn't get along all to well. There was somebody else she wanted to impress though, who she wished and hoped was watching her today...Sunsetpaw had just tripped the other apprentice over having them at the ground underneath them, a pleased smile was upon this attractive features of hers as pride bloomed inside of them. Was she watching them right now?. Sunsetpaw turned her head away seeking for thier leader out there in the crowd, wondering if Sootstar was watching and seeing how well she was doing today. That was her mistake to do though, to lose her focus from her opponent.
In the next second Sunsetpaw felt the underside of her belly get kicked and it send her right off and hitting the ground with a hard thud. Before she had fully grasp what had happend and could get back up on the paws the apprentice was now the one who had them pinned underneath them. It was impossible for her to win after that...the other apprentice to big for them since they where not exactly the biggest cat in the clan.Ugh. Did this meant they had lost?. " Heh!, i won!. " The apprentice called out thier victory with glee and then stept of them to run back over to thier mentor who praised them for thier victory.
Sunsetpaw would roll back over to thier stomach before she stood back up and send a glance over to her own mentor who just shook thier head at them before turning to walk away. "Foxdung." she would mutter underneath their breath and sat themself down in defeat. Not only had she embarassed herself but also she was gonna get scolded by her mentor again later. Just great. Frustrated at themselves for having made a such stupid error in thier spar she started to groom her chest in hope to deal with her embarassment. Well, hopefully Sootstar hadn't seen that....Her cheeks burned just thinking about it.
Weaselclaw sits in silence, observing the spar between apprentices with narrowed blue eyes. He watches each blow, each tensing of muscle, each spring forward, although his internal criticisms are not to the young cats themselves -- they are for their mentors. Weaselclaw is not deputy and does not supervise warrior training, but he genuinely likes being a mentor, and he's always looking for ways to improve how he works with Owlpaw.
Sunsetpaw loses, and the shame beneath her pelt is apparent. Weaselclaw blinks at her, a flash of sympathy running through his mind. "No shame in it," he tells her, voice gruff. "Everyone loses sometimes. Even the RiverClan leader." He smirks, white tip of his tail twitching. "What'd you learn from it?"
Galepaw watched the sparring unfold between Sunsetpaw and the other apprentice, an air of silent intrigue hanging over him. Once it was over he honestly felt a little bad for Sunsetpaw, losing wasn't an easy thing to bear. Already Weaselclaw was there trying to soften the blow but he wasn't sure how well it was going. Standing up, he then made his approach. "Live and learn, yeah? I heard that it's those who lose that learn the most and grow to be better." Old words that he had once heard from his former mentor. The same mentor who had abandoned both him and WindClan. "It's tough, but you do have skills."
Weaselclaw was actually a cat Sunsetpaw respected in the clan. Not only was he one of the lead warriors a much desired rank she herself wished to climb to one day but also he came from a barn. It might not be the same as a kittypet life but he had still been associated with twolegs, to have coexist beside them which to many here was viewed to be the same thing. But here he was having climpt the ranks to a lead warrior standing above even those who was born into the wild, who looked down on former kittypets like herself. That was worth to admire.
Sunsetpaw tried to keep a straight face when she faced the lead warrior as he tried to ensure her there was no shame in losing. That was something she found a hard time in believing. Losing meant she wasn't good enough. It gave other cats reasons to look down on her. Winning was the golden ticket to achievement, to get accepted and to happiness. No one would love her if she wasn't good enough. Sootstar would never bother herself to cast a glance to a loser. Winning was the only way to prove to everyone she was more then her kittypet blood. Of course she would say none of this things to the lead warrior. Instead she put up a polite smile. " Does that mean you loses sometimes too?." She was asking out of curiosity because in truth she couldn't see Weaselclaw lose to anyone...not even to the Riverclan leader. That had been a funny incident though. So much drama for a easy misunderstanding. How could anyone of them had known back then who not had grown up out here in the wild?.
What had she learned from this?. Instantly the young molly started to shift in her position a bit the embrassment from before returning. " To never let your eyes off your opponent.." she would answer them with cheeks slightly blown up. Just thinking about it made her so frustrated at herself!. She knew this already. Sunsetpaw sigh. " I shouldn't have let my guard down." She hated to make mistakes especially stupid ones like this.
The two was no longer alone. Wonderful. Sunsetpaw instantly felt her mood drop not liking to draw an auidence to herself if she was going to look bad in front of all of them... She had been expecting Galepaw to step forward to mock her or at least call her out for her mistake. So when he did speak she was on a sulky mood, lips tightly clenched. But...suprisingly the taunting didn't come. What?. Sunsetpaw was not used with hearing an enouragement speech. At least that was what she thought this was suppose to be. Those who loses learns more to become better?. The puzzled molly cast them a glance, thinking. " Hmh, is that so?" she mused, deep in thoughts as he considerd this words carefully.
You do have skills. Sunsetpaw's eyes went wide as she stared at the other apprentice dumbfoundedly. Praise for sure was something she never had received before. Sunsetpaw had never expected it to come from one of her den mates either. A warrior maybe, one day but from another apprentice?. How was she suppose to react to a such nice praise?. " Duh, of course i have." Sunsetpaw responded to it with the only way she knew how, pride. Showing confidence above insecurity because...insecurity only meant weakness. She would turn her head away from them as she gave a small smile to herself, a genuine one.
She lifted a paw to her mouth to clear the throat. " Maybe next time you and i can spar Galepaw?. Don't worry, i promise to go easy on you. " Sunsetpaw swung her head around again to face them, this time giving them a bright grin. Suddenly, she was on a better mood.
Galepaw wore a grin as he stared at Sunsetpaw, studying her reaction to his praise. He was capable of building others up, sometimes, when his own mood was on a high. Though he wouldn't deny that he was still at the mercy of his demons which could flare up and cause trouble. Usually whenever he saw Leechpaw. The guy just rubbed him the wrong way.
"Could always spar right now, if you're up for it. I'm sure ol' Weaselclaw here can keep an eye on us so it doesn't get too rough. Not that I'm opposed to you going all out." He invited with a look of determination in his eyes as he squared himself up. He was getting older and was bulking out slowly, and it was beginning to show. Heck, he was even developing a rather pretty mane of longer pale fur around his neck and chest, almost like that of a lion's mane. "Show me what you've learned."
"If you want a worth adversary then you should choose ME instead!" How did he get out here, who left him unattended, what did he think he was doing? The silver tabby kitten marched forward like a proud leader, head up and eyes glistening challenge and certainly not tears because he'd briefly gotten lost and scared and where was his mother-but he was here now around his clanmates and back to his quickwitted sass in no time. There was no fear in his gaze until he spotted Weaselclaw, the only cat present with any authority who he would, at least, begrudingly respect enough to hide from and avoid issue so the second he realized the brown tabby was there he was scrambling forward to the closest cover he could find; which was just standing under Galepaw.
( ♬ ) Closer to the nursery sits Aspenkit, who had been watching the two apprentices tussle, enraptured. She wants to lean as much as she can even before she officially becomes an apprentice, and the occasional sparring matches between other cats gave her great opportunities to see some of the apprentices in action. While she did watch closely, wide eyes following Sunsetpaw's movements, Aspenkit knows that she can't move like that yet. Even though Sunsetpaw hadn't won the match, she was still in an entirely different league than the kit. Weaselclaw approaches, and then Galepaw behind him, and Aspenkit pricks her ears, interested in what they're discussing. She had tried to stay out of the way during the sparring match so that she didn't interrupt the two apprentices, but surely now that they've finished she's safe to approach, right?
Before she reaches the others, a bundle of white and silver fur races forward, and she recognizes her brother, Wisteriakit. His declaration causes her to stop in her tracks for a moment - a worthy adversary? Was the sparring not over? As her gaze shifts back to the rest of the group, she notices that Galepaw has moved into a more active stance. Aspenkit's brow furrows as she looks over those present, trying to piece together who's sparring with who. Galepaw's facing Sunsetpaw, which makes sense because they're both apprentices, but she and Wisteriakit and the only kits around. Is he trying to spar with Sunsetpaw too? It seems like such a silly thought - they're both still kits, after all! And yet, Aspenkit can tell that he's serious. She remains on the outskirts of the group, interested in observing what happens next from up close. Whoever is fighting who, maybe she can still learn something useful to practice on her own.
Spar now?. Sunsetpaw grin died down again as she thought this out didn't took long for her to make a decision about it. " I guess i could go another round." There was no way she would reject Galepaws offer while Weaselclaw was here watching them not to mention this could work very well in her favor to make up for the mistakes from before. As she stood up again though the size difference between them become a bit more...clear. Sunsetpaw by far was among the tallest or biggest cats in the clan. She was more small and sleek built. Meanwhile Galepaw was muscular and big, far bigger then from her previous spar opponent. It was hard not to notice Galepaw's muscular building body that was for sure....
Sunsetpaw would hum in amusement when Galepaw actually challenged her to not go easy on them. So he liked to play rough?. In that case she would make sure to not disappoint him. " Hah, you better not regret this words later." She said with pride having proven before that she was alot tougher then what she looked. Despite having kittypet blood in her veins showed promising potential. Just when she had made herself ready to make the first move they got interupted by a.....kit.
The apprentice stood straight up again when Wisteriakit come running over towards them to even dare challenging her to a spar. Seriously?. Sunsetpaw found this kit arrogance bemusing not to mention being in her way right now. Kits should be playing with moss balls and not interupt apprentices training. Where on earth was this kit mother anyway?. "Uuuhm, i don't think so." she replied straight on, looking unapologic and slightly annoyed. She was not the cat who would humour a kits....fantasy.
Whatever happend next it seemed like something or someone had scared the kit because now she had taken cover underneath the big Galepaw. Now they for sure couldn't spar anymore...Sunsetpaw would huff underneath thier breath before forcing a smile upon her maw. " Maybe we should do this some other time after all...looks like you are occupied with kits now." Yes, she said you because there was no way she was gonna stick around kitsitting this...uhm, would it be appropriate to call them for parasites?. She wonderd....Blinking she noticed Aspenkit not all to far away either. At least that one know when not to interfere which made her instantly like Aspenkit more then....the other kit.
Galepaw let slip a squeak of surprise as he felt something beneath his belly, tiny ears grazing his ticklish underside. The apprentice managed to stop himself from spring skyward at least, sparing himself from some humiliation anyway. Though he wasn't best pleased that the sparring session had been interrupted by Wisteriakit, but it would be wrong to continue with the youth underfoot. The tom heaved a long sigh as he submitted to Sunsetpaw's wise decision. "Agreed. But remember that I owe ya a match, yeah? We'll get our chance." He beamed with a hearty laugh.
"Now then, about these sneaky lil kits. If you two come quietly back to camp I promise that you can fight me. Got it? I might teach ya a move or two, but you gotta be good!" Galepaw hoped that the bride would work on Wisterkit, and he imagined that Aspenkit would follow along willingly if the other went.
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