Bitten Off More Than I Can Chew

It had only been a few moonrises ago that Cinderpaw was named an apprentice, and already Nightstar had offered accompanied her outside of camp to review her progress. She hadn't had very long to learn from Swiftheart, but her mentor was a good one - patient and understanding, willing to go over the same thing until she got it right. She wasn't extremely confident in her hunting skills quite yet, especially in the bitter cold, but fighting... That was something she felt more at ease with. So today, Nightstar and Cinderpaw were heading towards the Pine Grove with the intent to lightly spar, and give Cinderpaw more practice with an experienced warrior that had seen many fierce battles.

She had hesitated when Swiftheart first told her, surprised at the sudden offer. Besides, her mentor and leader were littermates, weren't they? What more could sparring Nightstar provide over Swiftheart? She wasn't complaining, of course, just a bit.... Nervous. This was her leader, the leader of ShadowClan! How could she possibly hope to even land a paw on his flank? Well, not with that attitude she reminded herself as they reached the clearing in the pines, shaking her fur out against the chilling breeze as she turned to face Nightstar. Her eyes glittered with the excitement of the challenge ahead, though her tail tip revealed her apprehension at the situation. If she could land three blows, she would consider this a win.

Nightstar was tired of cats being named after other cats that he had known. Cinderpaw was no different, named after his sister's missing and perhaps deceased kit. Of course, Cinderpaw had made it past kittenhood, unlike the cat she had been named after... supposedly. Despite Nightstar's hesitance with naming kits after dead clanmates or relatives, he'd at least try to make sure that Cinderpaw carried her name for a long time.

"When facing off against an experienced opponent like myself, you must learn to assess your opponent in moments, because sometimes that's all the time you get." Nightstar paced, "But you can buy yourself time. Sacrifice getting the first hit by dodging their moves and countering their attack, watching how they move." Dropping into a crouch, Nightstar gave Cinderpaw a brief moment to listen, digest, and maybe to start thinking and to prepare herself before he jumped forwards.

The black tom leaped forwards, aiming to bowl the smaller apprentice over.

Nightstar used Jumping Strike, dealing 16 Damage (10+1+3+2) and Costing 7 Stamina.

Nightstar:
80/80 HP
163/170 SP

Cinderpaw:
4/20 HP
60/60 SP

Cinderpaw listened intently at Nightstar paced. Watch, assess quickly, react. Buy time, dodge and counter... But Nightstar was so huge! She wasn't tiny by any stretch of the imagination, but compared to her leader she felt as insignificant as a beetle. How could she hope to dodge him? She wouldn't have time to move to the side, at least not until she grew more and her legs got longer... In the next heartbeat she registered Nightstar crouching, and then his muscles bunched and he leaped forward. Frogtails. Her eyes widened momentarily, her leader's words escaping her as she stared at the large tom coming towards her, and she did the only thing her mind could think of. Running forward as quickly as she could to close the distance, she then flattened herself to the ground as Nightstar's paws grazed against her back, narrowly missing the apprentice. Blindly, she spun and struck out, hoping her paw would find his flank as he landed. Her paw only met air though, and she backed away slightly to try to find her opponent again. She would have to work on the counter.... But at least she managed to dodge. Her heart pounding, she stood watching for her leader's next move, trying to ignore the shaking in her paws.

Cinderpaw used Dodge and Fight, negating 16 damage and costing 7 SP. Counter attack was unsuccessful.

Nightstar:
80/80 HP
163/170 SP

Cinderpaw:
20/20 HP (+16)
53/60 SP (-7)

The member 'Mosspelt' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Effect Dice' : 2

"Very good! Just like that- You won't always get a hit in, but chipping away at your opponent when you can, may just save you one day." Nightstar meowed, pivoting on his paws as he nodded encouragingly at Cinderpaw. But the spar wasn't over for Cinderpaw, and he hoped that she had the intuition to realize not to let her guard down, but either way it would be a valuable lesson. Once more, Nightstar charged forwards, taking the offensive as he jumped over Cinderpaw and turning swiftly, jaws wrapping around the apprentice's tail and giving it a yank.

Nightstar used Tail Yank, Dealing 13 damage (10+1+2) and costing 15 stamina.

Nightstar:
80/80 HP
148/170 SP

Cinderpaw:
7/20 HP
53/60 SP