pafp The Injury ƚƚ Spar/training

[Houndshade]

YOU THINK THAT YOU'RE THE MAN​

✦

---

Houndpaw is only certain about a pawful of things. The sun will always rise and set, the moon will rise and fall, and despite her insistence that they don't want to, she will end up in some kind of spar with Stagpaw. At this point, she believed that their mentors had some kind of bet going on between who was going to kill the other first. Whenever she's at the Sandy hollow the chimera always seems to be also there, it threw a spanner in her plans of not having to train too hard today.


There was an unspoken expectation to not lose when put up to training against Stagpaw. No amount of pleasantries about how you can't win training that were spouted their way would change her predetermined mindset. They knew that it was a mutual sentiment, how could it not? Any time the two were seen together they were seen butting heads in some way or another. Since they were kits it seemed, who knew that one game of moss ball going awry would cement a childhood long feud.


Stagpaw used to ask to spar, Houndpaw never would be the one to ask for it. They never denied them but she wouldn't ask. The chocolate smoke was unclear on if it had become just an expectation now since they don't really ask anymore. Delicate whiskers twitch as she scrapes a paw along the ground, kicking some of the earth in the air. The sun was going to start setting soon, if she wanted to get this over with then they may as well start now.

A polite nod is given to her mentor and towards Stagpaw's before they finally make eye contact with the apprentice. “Are you good to go or have you miraculously pulled a muscle?” She asked with a tilt to her head, a sly grin forming as they stretched. She presumed that the answer was a yes before they even said anything because when have they ever denied her something? They assume that there's an expectation for a slow start, since it's extremely rare for her to initiate anything.

They debate meeting it, that debate is thrown aside extremely quickly though. Houndpaw charges forward, barrelling herself into Stagpaw with the intent to bowl her over. If successful she then attempts to raise a paw to cuff them under their chin. In the act she realises she has left herself rather vulnerable for a counter attack but decides to not try and take the defence, might as well try and give them a futile hope of winning here with this opening, if Stagpaw was even aware enough to recognise said opening.

{ please wait for @STAGPAW. }​

​

---

✦
I THINK, THEREFORE, I AM​

 

[STAGSNARL.]

YOU ALWAYS SAID HOW YOU LIKE DOGS​

---

they don't know why they're doing this. maybe they wish to prove themself to their parents. it seems to be why they do anything. make them proud. making them happy. they're not bad parents, not really. but they don't give them the time of day and it makes them desperate. what they wouldn't do for just one moment of praise. a great job. even a simple good job would suffice. a smile. a head nod that they did the right then. something. anything. they just wanted to be good enough. so they find themself here again. staring at the very cat who can get under their skin like no other. they don't even waste their time arguing with anyone they way they argue with her. they simply speak their piece. they're rude and brash and quick witted, just to keep cats away. they can't make friends. they cant focus on that because they have something to prove. and yet, houndpaw stays. why?

"you talk too much."

she regards, blinking slowly. focus, stagpaw. you cannot afford to get distracted by all it is that houndpaw enjoys distracting you with. she grunts slightly at her inner voice. alright. she can do this. she's not bad at sparring. it's what she prides herself on. she's not a hunter, that much is true, but she can fight. she knows how to defend herself. she knows how to fight offensively. so what the hell is it about houndpaw that makes her lose to them every single time? her ears press against her skull and she finds herself digging her claws into the ground. a throat clearing off to the side makes her furrow her brows. her mentor. right. right. no matter how pissed she was at houndpaw for being houndpaw, she still could not use her claws to spar.

"come on then. make the first move."

they wait for her to, trying to anticipate her movements just enough. it's barely enough. they find thrmself slammed to the ground, grunting just barely getting out of the way to mot be batted by her paw. they scoff angrily before using their hind paws in an attempt to kick at houndpaw's under belly and trying to throw her off.

​

 

[doepath ࿔]

Sparring was... a difficult subject, mostly because for all her efforts, Doepaw was abysmally bad at it. Her little, heated argument with Fallowpaw was about as close to a fight as she'd ever like to get and even then, it had refused (was it out of pity maybe... she didn't want to consider it) so it'd gone no where. After Wolfwind died, any eagerness she'd had to exploring the world had perished with them and it had taken much kind-hearted coaxing from @COBWEBTAIL to even leave the camp again.

Defense was her priority... to at least be able to hold her ground long enough for someone to help her or realize she needed it or... something. These two, however, seemed keen on destruction above all else. She watched with a small frown as blurs of figures rush across the hollow to slam into one another and swirl around in wild-pawed dance. They hiss at each other as if they really are enemies, and the fawn she-cat wonders if the two have forgotten this is practice, not real war.

Tilting her head slightly to try to make sense of their positioning, she isn't entirely excited to know it may be her turn to engage in this sort of grappling soon too... Just as soon as these knuckle-heads wrap up their tussling. "Are they always this mad during training," she asks, dragging golden gaze towards her mentor with a small frown. "They're going to give each other scrapes and bruises if they're not careful...."​

 

[Houndshade]

YOU THINK THAT YOU'RE THE MAN​

✦

---

She would be doing both her and Stagpaw a disservice if they tried to fall back on their familiar and comfortable lazy footing. Yet it was annoying to have to be so concentrated at the task at hand, it felt eerie to them when they had to fall into a focused silence. While she was a cat of few words for the most part they hated being totally silent. Her sparring partner had pointed out that they talk too much, if anything that made her shut up entirely. Spite motivated a lot of her actions with them, today was no different.

Hearing them scoff was enough to cause a wide pleased smile, a part of her thought that they would call it off early. It was never that easy though, they should have expected it and yet it's easy enough for the other apprentice to throw her off. A dust storm of sand flicks up into the air as she digs her paws into the ground to find her bearings. Her chocolate ear flicks in Doepaws direction as they take a half second to regain her senses. Did they really seem mad? She shrugged the thought away as quickly as it came, surely not. She had half a mind to pause this spar just to ask about it, that would be a waste of time though. The sooner that they get this over with the sooner they can carry on about her day. Which would probably still consist of pestering Stagpaw but at least that's fun.

They try to apply tactics when sparring against Stagpaw, they were larger than her so she had to be smarter. It made sense really, she decides to try and use their size against her today. Trying to fake her out by aiming to the right of her she pivots their paws at the last second to steer to their left. Taking a powerful swipe at her left front leg in an attempt to have her buckle underneath their own weight if their centre of balance was thrown off. Wherever successful or not they'll back away by a step, trying to anticipate whatever they'll try in retaliation.

{ Ignore how fashionably late I am to this lmao }​

​

---

✦
I THINK, THEREFORE, I AM​