Howling in the mud ((CLOSED))

Making his way to the apprentice den under the slowly darkening sky, Mudfoot was ready to start training his newest apprentice, Wolfpaw. Although he had quite a few apprentices to be training, he never complained when Thrushstar gave him another cat and was always excited to teach younger cats about clan life. Finding the young cat's pelt among the crowd of sleeping bodies, he crept over to the apprentice and prodded the bundle of fur with his russet colored paw. "Wolfpaw, wake up," the warrior meowed softly. With that, he exited the dark and cozy den, and sat down by the camp entrance.

Wolfpaw blinked her eyes sleepily and rose slowly after Mudfoot prodded her awake. For a second, she was confused as to where Puddlekit was and looked around. After a second, she remembered her younger sister hadn't been made an apprentice yet and with a discontented sigh she padded out of the apprentice's den. Her mentor was waiting by the camp entrance and she went over to greet him.

"What are we up to today, Mudfoot?" She asked, more tired than excited in that moment. Also the disappointment of not being able to train with Puddlekit nagged at the edge of her mind. The young she-cat kneaded her claws into the ground. Her drowsy head still swam with the fading memory of a forgotten dream. Something about Eagleheart, She recalled faintly. The apprentice had met her father only days before and that too was consistently on her mind. While part of Wolfpaw was interested in learning how to fight, most of her was too distracted to care.

Giving a nod to Wolfpaw, Mudfoot stood up and gave his thick pelt a shake. "We're going to get some training done tonight," the tom meowed and turned around, ready to get started. "How about we get going," he added and started making his way out of the camp and into the territory, knowing the apprentice would catch up, no matter how tired and groggy she seemed.

"Alright," She padded after the warrior, her paws dragging slightly on the ground. However, her claws unsheathed themselves in the anticipation of battle practice. The young apprentice hoped to start battle training right away.

Padding into the territory, Mudfoot led Wolfpaw in the direction of the Thunderpath. "First, we'll patrol the Thunderpath border and then work on some battle training," the tom meowed, hoping his idea was alright with the apprentice. After a few moments of silence, the two reached the path and upon arriving, a monster zoomed by, making the tom's fur stand on end. He would never forget the day that he injured those WindClan cats and although he was doing it under Leopardfang's permission, it would haunt him for the rest of his days.

Wrinkling his nose, the warrior looked to Wolfpaw, a soft smile on his muzzle. "So, what do you know about the Thunderpath?" he asked, wondering if she had any prior knowledge about this place.

Wolfpaw's fur stood on end as a monster roared past. The sound was unlike anything she had ever heard before. The deafening sound echoed for a moment, but faded as it sped off. The apprentice tried to hide the sigh of relief that escaped her throat, but it came out anyways. She was glad the disgusting twoleg thing was gone. She looked up at her mentor, eyes still holding hints of repressed fear.

"I know not to go out on it without looking. Something like that could make you freshkill instantly," She meowed after a moment. Her heart still raced from the moment the giant beast had passed right in front of them. How could any cat be comfortable crossing that sort of thing? Except for maybe Eagleheart. He's probably not scared of anything. Wolfpaw made a mental note to ask her father what he thought of the thunderpath at the next clan gathering. After a second she added aloud to her mentor, almost spitting, "It smells disgusting, too."

Watching as a monster roared by, he was glad that Wolfpaw had some sort of knowledge about the dangerous path. Nodding his head in agreement, the warrior turned to his apprentice, a smile on his face. Although he had been swamped with his warrior duties lately, it was always a joy being able to teach the younger generations of cats about clan life.

"Good job. It definitely smells horrible," he agreed with a chuckle and turned around so he was facing the thickly wooded forest. "Ready to work on some battle training?" With that, the russet tom started padding towards the training hollow, excited to teach Wolfpaw about the art of battling.

Wolfpaw smiled lightly at her mentor's praise. The moment was brief, though, as she was more excited by what he said next. Now that was what she was waiting for. She flexed her claws excitedly. Someday I will be as great a warrior as Eagleheart! She looked up at Mudfoot, finally something causing a spark of interest in her eyes. Exploring the territory seemed way less interesting after her excursion now long before But battle training would be fun.

"I'm definitely ready," A dark smile crossed her features as she thought about learning the battle moves.

Glad to see what Wolfpaw was confident in training with him, he didn't waste any time to get down to business.

Lunging forward, the tom whacked his apprentice on the head with a fluffy paw, making sure he didn't hurt her with his claws. He would've gone all out, but this being her first time doing battle training, he knew that he needed to go a little easy on her. Bringing his paw back to him, he crouched down and started circling the apprentice. "Always use the element of surprise," he started, a smile on his muzzle. "Letting your opponent guess your plan of attack will always be your biggest weakness," the warrior warned, hoping she would take the tip into consideration.

Mudfoot used Front paw strike, costing 10 stamina.

Mudfoot:
SP: 270/280

Wolfpaw:
SP: 80/80

Wolfpaw leapt back in surprise after being struck. She definitely hadn't expected it. But with his words, she quickly got the message. In response, she crouched down snarling, with a glimmer of excitement at the challenge in her eyes. What should I do? Her mind raced. Having just come from the nursery and not having much experience put her at a disadvantage, but she was fairly smart. Right away, she planned on attempting to use a similar tactic to what Mudfoot had just demonstrated.

The only advantage she had was being smaller and lighter. Her mentor was vastly more experienced, larger and stronger. Wolfpaw made sure to not let her eyes betray her as she quickly jumped off to the side of him, slid underneath his and came up from the other side. The apprentice copied his motion, swiftly extending her front pay and striking him on the side of the head. Of course, she kept her claws sheathed. In the excitement of mock battling, she almost slid them out during the attack, but quickly retracted them.

Wolfpaw used front paw strike, doing 6 damage and using 10 stamina.

Wolfpaw
20/20
70/80

Mudfoot
94/100
280/280

Surprised when the Wolfpaw slid under him and appeared on the other side of him, he was quickly his in the face with a small paw. Note to self, don't underestimate apprentices, he thought to himself, honestly glad that the she-cat was prepared with a move like that. Letting out a chuckle, he swiveled around to face the apprentice, a playful smile on his muzzle. Lifting a paw, the warrior whacked the side of Frostpaw's head with a sheathed paw, just hard enough so that the apprentice could feel it.

"Good job!" the tom exclaimed with a smile. "You still have a lot to learn, but you're definitely on the right track, especially with that slick move!" he exclaimed with a cheery grin. Giving his pelt a shake, he satisfied with the night's training session.

Mudfoot used front paw blow, costing 5 stamina.

Mudfoot:
SP: 265/280

Wolfpaw:
SP: 70/80

OOC: Edited the thing, hope just using stamina is alright~

Wolfpaw's head rang slightly as the warrior batted her along the side of her head again. She shook her head as the shock subsided. It took her a second to register her mentor's praise after the counter-attack, but the young she-cat stood up proudly at his words. Once more, she flexed her claws, in preparation to another move, but Mudfoot seemed finished with their brief battle training. Her tail, once happily raised in the heat of attack, not drooped to the ground.

"Now what?" She questioned, trying to keep the slight disappointment out of her words. I'd be happy with battle training all night if he let me... Facing the warrior was certainly more exciting than play fighting with kits in the nursery.

Letting out a deep breathe, it was evident that Wolfpaw wanted to train more and even though he hated seeing cats disappointed, working too hard meant their would be consequences later, especially for apprentices. As much as the young cats wanted to think that battling all night was no big deal, they would always end up regretting it after some rest, when they would wake up with sore muscles and a bad attitude. Besides, the clan needed every cat to help out with the harsh Leafbare weather and he couldn't risk working Wolfpaw too hard.

"Well, you did great tonight and seem to have plenty of energy to spare, so why don't we do some hunting on the way back to camp?" the warrior mewed with a smile, hoping this idea was alright with the apprentice.

"Alright," She said simply, brightening up a bit. The little grey cat crouched down swiftly, attempting to show of the hunting crouch Flamestrike had tried to show her after a couple moons of her begging. Wolfpaw, while eager to do the move, was slightly unbalanced and her tail dragged the ground as she quietly padded forwards. It was evident in her movements that she had not tried to copy Flamestrike's movements, and rather just tried to do it herself. Wolfpaw tilted her head questioningly towards Mudfoot, her yellowish eyes begging for some validation. While her fighting was off to a promising start, the eager young apprentice hadn't bothered much to focus on her hunting crouch.

Observing the apprentice as she attempted a hunting crouch, the tom couldn't help but smile. Her form needed a bit of work, but at least she was trying. Taking a step forward, he placed a paw under her tail and gently lifted it off of the ground. "Never let your tail drag on the ground and keep your rump low. Prey are smarter than you think and are able to hear a cat's tail swish back and forth," he pointed out. Although the thought prey being anywhere close to smart seemed unrealistic, it was the truth, and proved that even the simplest of things, such as a tail lightly touching the ground could make a cat lose their prey.

"Try again," Mudfoot meowed with a nod, taking a step back from Wolfpaw. She was a quick learner and he was sure that she would be able to fix her mistakes.