Shadepaw's Battle Training (Closed)

Mottleheart gaze was narrowed as he stared at the sky, waiting on the cusp of the hill that surrounded the WindClan camp for Shadepaw. The sky was clear and was rather warm, a good sign of Newleaf being on its way. Today was the day for battle training. The tom frowned, having always disliked the idea of fighting. All it brought was unnecessary pain...he had seen it first paw when he was just a kit. But there was no denying that one they would be called to fight most likely. Perhaps against an animal...Perhaps against another Clan. They were warriors - called to fight and protect and he couldn't deny that even if he would do his best to avoid bloodshed. But it was time to teach Shadepaw how to fight and protect her Clan. And so he waited, letting the wind rustle his short pelt as he stared off into the horizon.

Even as an apprentice, Shadepaw was still rather a shy cat. She was still having trouble learning the fact that she was a wild cat living in the forest instead of living off to the side of all the clan territories that she heard so much about before she and her brother was shoved off into the wild by her mother. She also couldn't shake the brutel memory that she had glued in her head, the death of her mother and father as she and Stormpaw were thrown across the thunderpath and onto WindClan's moor territory just seconds before a monster crushed both her parents. She tried to push all of that back and look up as she found her mentor near the hill and said, "I'm ready to train." Although, deep inside she wasn't all sure that she was ready.

Mottleheart glanced over to Shadepaw as the apprentice came padding up, quickly recognizing her timid behavior as one he had moons ago before he had become a warrior. His gaze quickly soften as he got to his paws, jerking his head slightly in the direction of the territory in a curt signal to follow as he padded down the hill into the moor. "Stick close, Shadepaw. We are going to be doing some battle training today." He knew roughly about Shadepaw's past - that she wasn't a natural born WindClan cat but the fact that she had been with them since kithood left him with no doubts of where her loyalty was - she was almost as good as a natural born WindClan cat to him. There was a brief pause as he glanced over his shoulder at the young apprentice, slowing down his pace so that she could easily keep up with him. "We can take it slow if you want - just go over the basics of fighting today. Does that sound good?"

Shadepaw snapped out of her daydream as her mentor slowed down and spoke to her. She nodded and said "Taking it slow sounds good. I'm not sure how good I will be at this because I've never experienced anything like this before."

Mottleheart nodded softly at Shadepaw, giving her a small smile. "That is understandable. You are young...Hopefully you won't need to use these lessons until you are far older but for now, its imperative that you learn the basics of how to fight." He paused as he glanced around, nodding his head softly. This would be a perfect spot to do the lessons. "We will do our training here," he announced, resting his tail on Shadepaw's shoulder with a warm smile before stepping away to face her. "Are you ready to start?"

Shadepaw sure hoped she wouldn't have to use these skills for a long while. Even though she wasn't sure how the training would go, she lifted up her head and spoke clearly to her mentor. "I'm ready to start when you are." She stated.

Mottleheart gave a short nod to Shadepaw, taking in a deep breath as he stood tall and ridge, staring down at the apprentice with warmth in his eyes. "Fighting is a skill that every Clan cat should known - even medicine cats are given basic training to protect themselves. But us, as warriors, use those skills to protect our Clanmates. But even if we dislike the idea of fighting, there may be a day when you are called to protect your Clan and family with no chance of peace. When that day comes, you will be called to fight and stand with your Clanmates in the thick of battle." Mottleheart paused in his speech, glancing at Shadepaw. He could only hope that he could instill in Shadepaw the same respect for peace that he did. So many warriors seemed to believe that violence was the answer to deal with the other Clans but that only brought heartache and unneeded bloodshed. While he would never back down from a fight if he had no choice, he knew he would always prefer no violence if the option was there. He shook his head slightly, shaking off his train of thoughts as he streached out a paw and unsheathed his claws to draw attention to them. "As a warrior, our greatest tool is our claws. A strong warrior can send an apprentice running with a single strike - cutting down on the opponent's numbers while keeping that apprentice from further bloodshed. It is in our code that an honorable warriors never kills his foes unless the situation demands it even if they are from another Clan."

Shadepaw listened carefully so the she could understand all the information Mottleheart was telling her. She had no desire to kill anyone whatsoever, and she really didn't want to hurt anyone either. She would, however, fight to protect her clan if necessary. She thought for a moment longer before asking, "So where do we start? What move will I learn first?"

What move to teach first...That was the question, wasn't it? Sheathing his claws as he balanced on four paws again, there was a faint frown as the thoughts ran though him. It took a few moments to decide before he started to pace back and forth as he took a deep breath before speaking. "The first move we are going over is a move that tends to be saved for the start of a battle - or at least when you are taking on a new opponent. Tackling your opponent to force all attention on you is a tried and true method...Mostly if they aren't focused on your or even aware of your presence, you may be able to knock them over and do some more damage." He paused as he glanced around, noticing a lone dead bush not far from them. "Here, watch me," he said as he dropped into a crouch before he darted forward, ramming into the bush at full speed. There was a crackling of the branches as some of the dead twigs snapped under his suddenly weight. He was quickly forced to step back as the twigs started to dig into his fur but as he glanced down at the small chaos he had caused, he nodded his head as he glanced back at Shadepaw. "While ramming into your opponent with your weight - if you are bigger then them at least - isn't a bad idea, some cats may simply leap at them with claws out. If you are careful with your blows, its not a bad plan for scaring them off." He stepped back from the bush. "Try to tackle this bush with all that you have - but be careful not to hurt yourself on the twigs."

Mottleheart used Run-and-Tackle on the dead bush. Deals 12 damage (9 base + 3 for it being a bush) and costing 10 stamina.

Mottleheart:
45/45 HP
150/160 SP

Dead Bush:
0/0 HP
0/0 SP
Its a bush, what do you expect?


OOC: I'll be explaining the moves Run-and-tackle, Leap-and-Hold and Tail Yank. Also, time to explain how to fight. Copying and pasting from a previous explanation I did.

Battling is a bit more simpler then hunting, dice rolling barely needed. Every cat has a rank - kit, apprentice, newly appointed warrior, young warrior...Ect. Each of these ranks has health and stamina and a certain amount of moves that they can use. As an apprentice, you have 20 health and 80 stamina while Mottleheart, as a young warrior, instead has 45 and 160 stamina. The health and stamina of each rank can be found here. More health means that you can take more damage, and the stamina means you can more moves before you run out. If either of these hit zero, then you are out of the fight. Either you faint, or you run away. Your cat doesn't die unless you want them to do so you never need to worry about that.

Each rank-up expands the amount of moves you can use along with increasing the damage that each of them does. The list of moves with damage and stamina cost are found here. The stamina cost remains the same for every rank, its simply the damage that changes. Certain moves have special effects, such as dealing more damage to an opponent not focused on you or some of them stuns the opponent or a turn or two.

Stunning moves means that the opponent cannot attack for a certain amount of turns. Most stunning moves have a certain amount of time, such as one turn while two requires a dice roll with the number rolled (using the Effect die) decides how long they are stunned. If you use one of the dice-rolling stun, its always a good idea to edit your post after rolling to say how long your opponent is stunned. Also, a turn lasts until you post again. So if your opponent is stunned for two turns, they they have to post twice before they can attack again.

Also, keeping track of your opponent's health along with your own is standard practice to keep things from getting confusing. You simply list what their health/stamina looks like after your post is done and damage is taken into account. Uh...I don't know what else I need to say. Here is also the Battle Rules. They are important as well.

Shadepaw watched Mottleheart carefully as her mentor attacked the bush. After he got done demonstrating Shadepaw dropped into a crouch like Mottleheart did before he took off. After a second, Shadepaw also darted foward, charging towards the bush and halfway crashing into it, rather than just landing on it like she was supposed to.

Shadepaw used run-and-tackle on the dead bush. Deals 6+3 damage and costing 10 stamina points.

Shadepaw:
20/20 HP
70/80 SP

Dead bush:
-9/0 HP
0/0 SP

After she grumbled a little bit, Shadepaw backed off the bush and returned to where her mentor was watching her. She was embarrassed at what happened, so she said nothing.

Mottleheart watched her with a careful gaze, frowning slightly when Shadepaw somewhat recklessly charged into the bush but at least she hadn't seem to gotten hurt by any of those twigs. They could deal with fine tuning her fighting abilities later, for now it was just the basics and that was good enough for him. And so he nodded as Shadepaw came padding back, already having decided on what move to teach her...But perhaps they would stray away from preforming the moves for the last two as they had no target suitable for testing the moves on. "Another useful move is leaping onto your opponent and attacking them from their back," he explained with a flicker of his ears. "They won't be able to reach you until you are shaken off, so keeping a good grip on them is important. This move is most helpful when you are fighting older, more experience cats as it can help you deal more damage while keeping you safe from harm. Understood?" Seeing how there would be no practicing this time, it seemed simply asking Shadepaw if she got what he was explaining would have to do.

OOC: Something I forgot to mention is that when you are doing Leap-And-Hold, while your opponent is still stunned, you cannot use another move. You simply use Leap-And-Hold again without the dice roll, stamina cost included.

Shadepaw sat down for a moment as her mentor was explaining the next move. She thought she saw some of the other apprentices practicing a move of this sort while she was still a kit. She never really paid much attention to it though, because she was still shaken up at what happened when she was first brought into WindClan. But after hearing Mottleheart explain the move, it made sense to Shadepaw, so as wind ruffled her dark fur she answered "I think it makes sense. I learn more by actually doing the things rather than just listening."

Mottleheart nodded softly as she spoke. He supposed she had a point - every cat learned differently. While he had no problem learning through explanation only as it simply made sense in his mind. But it seemed she understood it better by doing. He glanced at the bush, knowing that wasn't going to do at all for the testing of this move but noticed the remains of a fallen tree not far away. "Alright then, follow me," he said with a flicker of his tail, padding over to the tree. His eyes narrowed as he studied it, before bunching his muscles and leaping onto its. Its surface was smooth from years of being exposed to the wind, and along with being almost frozen solid it made digging into it hard. It would be a perfect example. Satisfied, he hopped down and dipped his head toward the tree while glancing at Shadepaw. "This shall be your example," he said. "I want you to jump and do your best to stay on the log as if it was an enemy cat - but be warned, its slippery and hard to dig your claws into. You will no doubt have an easier time holding onto another cat but they can shake you off."

OOC: No need to use the battle system here. Using it prior on the bush was just to make sure you understood how to use it.

Shadepaw followed Mottleheart over to the tree and glanced at the log that he was pointing to. She simply nodded as she understood what Mottleheart wanted her to do. She climbed on the log and gripped her claws deeply into it. She halfway slipped for a second at first because it was slick like Mottleheart said it would be. "How is this?" She asked him. Shadepaw wasn't sure what she was supposed to do next with this move.

Mottleheart paced around the fallen tree the best he could the moment Shadepaw got her grip, watching the placement of her paws and how she held herself onto the truck with careful eyes. After taking a complete trip around, he nodded his head in approval. "Good!" he said before flickering his tail at her back paws. "Once you have a good grip on your opponent, you want to do your best to damage them however you can while maintaining your grip. One way to do that is to use your back paws to rank down their sides while using your front ones to hold on. But know that no grip can last forever and you will be shaken off at some point. But this will buy you some precious seconds and if you are fighting a much weaker opponent, you may be able to chase them off with this simple move while taking no damage yourself."