pafp WORKIN' MAN BLUES - training session

It was strange, the slight warmth he felt with Johnny finally integrated into Skyclan. Perhaps Thistleback just enjoyed having a job to do, such as shaping up new warriors- especially one so caged from the world. To free someone, was that not a display of his redemption from the past? The bobtail was keeping his mind out of darker places. Snowpaw’s apprenticeship was coming near to the end, the troubled boy hopefully taking the time to heal properly.

" Snowpaw, this is Johnny- if either of you haven’t met yet. He’s our newest daylight warrior- a friend of mine. " he introduces quickly, picking his way toward the rockpile rather than the sandy ravine for today’s training. " I wanted him to join us this session. I do like to show-off my apprentices. Only the finest warriors graduate from my training. " he boasts with grey eyes flicking toward the speckled grey-coated boy.

" I chose the rockpile today, so we can focus on our footwork. We can also do a bit of hunting afterwards " he finishes as the stone jungle bleeds into view.


  • @Snowpaw @Johnny


  • MqZ0nzd.png

    Thirty-three moons EVENT TRACKER | IMPORTANT INFO
    — Lead warrior of Skyclan since 12.22.22
    Devoted to Deersong 9.29.22 | polyamorous
    Father of Coyotepaw, Pricklepaw, and Eveningpaw.
    — mentoring Snowpaw graduate(s) Quillstrike
    — very muscular piebald black and white tom with spiky fur and cold silver-grey eyes.
    voice & accent
    biography・゚✧
    OPEN for Dice battles | 🎲 stine#3004
  • bVBPWus.png

 
abetteravvy.png

LIVE AS IF YOU WERE TO DIE TOMORROW​


Had it not been for the obvious differences in age, one might have made the mistake that Johnny was the apprentice in this outing. The bobtail was brimming with energy, all easy grins with amber eyes ablaze with eager determination. It had been a long time since the tabby had looked forward to something like this, and it was hard not to let it show just a little. After all, he was essentially standing on the edge of entirely new world, not just in the physical aspect of having to learn the ins and outs of the forest and the people, but in a spiritual and mental aspect as well.

Introductions were given, and Johnny offered the youth a nod of greeting as he followed alongside the pair, letting out an amused huff at Thistlebacks remark of only the finest warriors graduating from his training. "I believe that. Guess I'm lucky I get to sit in today, huh?" and while there was a playful edge to his words, they were also sincere. Johnny had no doubt that a cat like Thistleback demanded nothing but the best from his pupils, and as a cat who'd earned themselves the title of Lead Warrior, he was eagr and grateful to learn from him.

Amber eyes shift ahead to the Rockpile as it's introduced, and bright eyes widen just a bit in awe. There was much of the wilderness that the bobtail had yet to experience, and this was certainly one of them. "Sounds good, sir. What excersize are we running?" he asked as he gazed up at the pile of rocks and small boulders before him. Would they be racing to the top? Running laps along the boulders at the edge of the structure? Johnny wasn't sure, but he was ready for whatever Thistleback had to throw at them.

 

Snowpaw sizes Johnny up with narrowed golden eyes, he does not mean to appear hostile but he can't help his immediate skeptecism and unease at the stranger before him. "...hello." It's a greeting, not a particularly polite one but even enough he won't get a cuff to his ear for it.

There is a part of him that is annoyed, but he holds his tongue. Quillstrike was a warrior now, Thistleback's attention should have no longer been divided and yet a new cat had forced his way in despite it. Snowpaw had wanted his last few months to be with his mentor alone, to talk, to train, to selfishly hold that focus that had once been split. Jealousy surges under his pelt but he keeps it subdued, he's not so quick to temper now and he knows when swallow his words down rather than let them sputter out. But he can not hide the way his fur rises along his spine in a prickling mane.
That he had to share with a daylight warrior who would be crawling back to his two-leg come nighttime was just salt in the wound.
"...let me fight him." The tom says before he can stop himself, ebony claws unsheathing impulsively.
"You want to show me off? Let me fight him." And send him whimpering and crying back to his two-legs so he could have his mentor back once more.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dizzy
The chipper mood from Johnny decorates him like the patterns of his coat. Thistleback steals glances of it, wondering when it became important to him to see it. The eagerness to learn, the respect he had for the others around him. He opens his maw to respond to his question when Snowpaw’s distracts him.

let me fight him, Thistleback’s neutral scowl pulls at the seams and his brows pinch. What had come over the boy so suddenly? eyes trace hackles, find a tense unease under a coat of grey and white. The piebald is still for a moment, considering the squint in his apprentice’s stare toward Johnny, dropping down to the boy’s claws as they unfurl.

" I also prefer to demonstrate my apprentice’s ability to control themself " his tone is complex in a sense that it’s still warm but prickled as his pelt. " If Johnny- you wish to spar with Snowpaw. I see no problem with it. However, if claws come out… I interfere " he offers between the two before springing forward, claws scraping noisily as he drags himself up the stone. " careful where you put your feet. Can’t imagine a broken leg feels good " he warns, wondering if the calico’s short tail would hinder their balance.





  • MqZ0nzd.png

    Thirty-three moons EVENT TRACKER | IMPORTANT INFO
    — Lead warrior of Skyclan since 12.22.22
    Devoted to Deersong 9.29.22 | polyamorous
    Father of Coyotepaw, Pricklepaw, and Eveningpaw.
    — mentoring Snowpaw graduate(s) Quillstrike
    — very muscular piebald black and white tom with spiky fur and cold silver-grey eyes.
    voice & accent
    biography・゚✧
    OPEN for Dice battles | 🎲 stine#3004
  • bVBPWus.png

 
abetteravvy.png

LIVE AS IF YOU WERE TO DIE TOMORROW​


"Straight to it then, huh?" Johnny chuckled, eyes bright with a mixture of myrth and interest as they settled on Snowpaw.

The bobtail had never really had many chances in his life to interact with younger cats. There had been a few here and there in passing, but looking back on his life Johnny couldn't say with confidence that there'd only been a pawful of younger cats in his life that he'd spoken to or interacted with on a regular basis. He'd definitely never sparred with one, but Thistleback seemed okay with it and to be frank, Johnny liked the spark.

"Aye, I'm willin' to give it a go. Not used to sparring with a partner though, so keep that in mind." He'd do his best to keep things clean and well within the bounds of reasonable, but if he ended up accidentaly cuffing the kid a bit too hard he didn't want any hard feelings- which of course ran both ways, because Johnny was very much aware that he could get put right on his ass by some fancy warrior move he wasn't expecting.

He leapt up onto the rocks beside Thistle with no trouble whatsoever, powerful back legs clearly well-practiced when it came to handling jumps or hauling his body weight up something. The whole 'being tailless' thing may have been a problem if he'd been born with one and then lost it later in life, but Johnny had never had a tail to begin with. He'd spent his entire life cultivating his ability to move based off of that, and he was just as sturdy and agile as any other cat that the Lead Warrior may have seen make the jump before.

"Do we just pick a spot and go?" he asked, picking his way across the uneven terrain with an ease and confidence that suggested the stocky tom was more sure-footed than first expected given his lack of a tail and all.

He wasn't really all that familiar with the, uh, technicalities of something like a spar, but he figured that after today he'd know them well enough.