STILL STANDING — open

[SLATE]

"Ack- damn!" Slate exclaims as he ungracefully staggers back from his offensive tactic, slamming down onto his paws and gritting his teeth as his taut shoulders give him grief. After not having been moved or worked for weeks as he was banished to the living nightmare that was Dawnglare's pungent den, it seemed that Slate was not quite as needle-sharp as he typically was. Not that the lead warrior would outright admit that, however. He just needed to get back into the groove of things, that was all. After forging a reputation for himself as a fierce fighter, the most embarrassing thing to be at this point would be rusty.

The hulking Maine Coon gave a few rolls of his shoulders, a tight frown tugging at his lips as he worked through any kinks in his muscles. Faded pink markings could be spotted in a certain light, under a patch of fur that was still in the process of growing back in. That damned rogue had not made Slate's recovery process easy.

Slate meets his opponent's stare with fiery amber hues, now more determined than ever to win this spar. "'m fine. Just- Come at me." The lead warrior insists, assuming a battle-ready stance and tensing his limbs as he prepared to make a move.

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾ —— 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙘𝙠, 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚

• feel free to be the cat he was sparring with!

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  ₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾

  slate
  

  — he/him; lead warrior of skyclan
  — a hulking, scarred charcoal-black colored maine coon with amber eyes
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — link to full tags; @ on discord or dm @beaaats for plots!​

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[Hazelbeam]

————————————————————⊰★★★⊱———————————————————

Hazelbeam was not as physically strong as some of the cats here who had been training their entire lives, but she was fast and fiesty and had tussled in her fair share of fights in back alleys during her exploration of twolegplace before she eventually discovered SkyClan. She was no slouch, she was a sword still being tempered and her claws were kept clean and sharp for battle; even if she kept them sheathed here to avoid putting the lead warrior back in the medicine cat den accidentally.
Was she perhaps taking advantage of the fact the giant of a cat was still recovering? Possibly, but a true warrior knew when to hone in on a weakness and use it to their advantage and she was more than happy to make a show of grasping this principle.
The lean black, blue and white molly stepped to the side, paws gliding gracefully over the ground as she spread them out and lowered herself down with a roll of her shoulders. "If you say so~"
Her legs stiffen, tighten, muscles coiling before she springs up and dashes forward; dipping and weaving from side to side before cutting to the left and attempting to spring onto the larger cat's side with a solid push of her paws to kick off him - hoping to unbalance him once again.

★ such a wonder to be under her spell ———— ★ she's a woman in total control of herself

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  Hazelbeam
  —⊰⋅ Daylight Warrior of SkyClan
  —⊰⋅ She/Her
  "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  —⊰⋅ SH Black/Blue Chimera w/blue eyes
  - Does NOT wear her witch hat while hunting or on patrol.
  

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[Cherryblossom]

Though relegated to the sidelines, Cherrypaw does not immediately seethe at the dismissal. Her mind simply wanders back to where it has always been this past quarter-moon: her father. She dimly wonders whether Ashenclaw and Slate had ever sparred before. Her father had been tall and hefty, yes, but had he been Slate-tall and Slate-hefty? Her brow darkens as she realizes she doesn't know. Maybe the last time she had truly looked at Ashenclaw had been when she was a kitten, where all adults had been the same size and strength.

Whatever—he's in the dirt now, and SkyClan has picked up on without him far faster than they had without Blazestar. Which makes her angry, but she has to admit it's unjustified, for the death of a warrior and the death of a leader were not the same. Still, they could find it in themselves to care about Orangestar's ex-mate and Cherrypaw's father dying, if they couldn't care for Ashenclaw's sake alone.

Before she can start crying again, she redirects her attention to the match. Normally, she'd shout something like "get his tail, elder-lover!" But she doesn't have the cheek in her to do it today. So she continues to sit there, gaze studious upon their every move, as Slate would've had her do regardless. Now it's tinged with a little bit more heart, though; a little bit of the most casual level of desperation. "How heavy does she think she is?" she mutters under her breath, scrutinizing Hazelbeam's attempt to unbalance her beast of a mentor.​

 

[SILVERSMOKE]

Watching spars (more briefly, analysing them) was something of a hobby for the spotted tabby. While he rarely bothered to watch the maine coon's fights, the black tom was taking up valuable space in the training area and Silversmoke wouldn't be able to take over until he was done. With nothing to do until the space was free, the Lead Warrior settled close to Slate's apprentice, his tail wrapped around his paws. "Hmph, sloppy," he agreed with Cherrypaw, nodding staunchly. Slate was an easier opponent due to his ailments, but by no means an easy one: one should never try and wrestle with a badger just because it looked hurt, when he compared the size differences between Hazel and Slate, the metaphor seemed all too apt. "Any warrior knows the best way to defeat a larger opponent is to make them dizzy first." Slate was barely heavier than Silversmoke, such a strategy wasn't as good for him as it'd have been for someone like Cherrypaw or Hazelbeam. Still, he'd seen enough WindClanners try and run circles around him to understand their intentions, actually beating the strategy was another skill entirely though. Eyes squinted with great scrutiny as he waited to see how Slate would respond to Hazelbeam's actions.
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[APPLEFROST]

Applefrost watched with curiosity as Slate's guard stuttered against the other molly. He had spent some time in the Dawnglare's den after all, she wondered if the amount of days wore his skill away or if it was that his muscles had grown soft from lack of use. Hazelbeam found a point of weakness rather fast and in his blind drive to prove he could still continue, she repeated her action to throwing the lead off balance.

"If everyone fought the same with their size it would be no fun." Applefrost's wide stare is alight with an admiration at the display between the two warriors. She never enjoyed to spar, unfortunately. Too predictable with cats like Silversmoke, nothing compared to baring teeth to kill or be killed.

"Have you fought against Slate yet, Miss Cherry? What do you do?"

"Speech"​

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I KNOW SHE LIES ALONE, SHE'S MY CALLER​

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