Nectar sticks to Stone (For Wavedream623)

"Nice catch!" Nectarpaw mewed, bounding towards his friend eagerly. It was a fine catch, and Nectarpaw was amazed how fast this otherwise rather slow cat was when chasing the rabbit. "Where should we put our prey now that we caught it? I mean, while we catch more stuff." Nectar paw had many good traits, but sharp-eyed was not one of them. He was relying on Stonepaw to find the perfect place to bury or hide their catches.

"Thanks!" Stonepaw replied happily to the praise, voice muffled in the fuffly fur of his catch hanging securely in his jaw. When Nectarpaw suggested he find a place to dig their prey, the large gray tom pointed his tail at the heather where Nectarpaw had caught his rabbit. "We could put them there?"

"Okay! Good eye!" Charging over to the heather Stonepaw had indicated to, Nectarpaw wondered what it would feel like to place this prey on the fresh-kill pile back at camp. Once in the clump of the light purple flowers, he started vigorously digging for a few moments until he had dug a whole big enough to bury his hare in. He laid down his catch and placed some soil and a few of the flowers on it.

Copying the apprentice, Stonepaw managed to cover his catch in the depths of the heather and grasses. He teetered back onto his feet in his usual awkward movements, springing up when the tom managed to get stable on his paws.

Looking at Nectarpaw, the large gray tom felt a wave of sentimentality. He didn't think anyone would accept him with his odd and annoying quirks, but so far one cat has. "Hey Nectarpaw." Stonepaw shifted his paws nervously. "Wanna be friends?"

"Of corse I want to be your friend! I kinda already considered us friends, 'cause you know, we're doing what friends do together," Nectarpaw exclaimed. It hadn't once crossed his mind that he wouldn't become friends with this apprentice. Nectarpaw knew that Stonepaw had a few flaws, and probably more he didn't know about, but that had never come between friendship before. Nectarpaw was the chatterbox who never shut up, so he knew friends weren't supposed to be perfect. "Maybe we could go hunting again sometime to impress our mentors. You know hunting is one of the things friends do together."

Stonepaw didn't think he could ever be happier than this moment. As he looked at Nectarpaw, his chest rose with elation. The apprentice considered him his friend: he accepted him.

"Yeah we should, I totally agree!" Stonepaw replied eagerly, tail twiching every few seconds in uncontrollable happiness. Then he thought about why they were there in the first place, and couldn't wait to bring their catch to the fresh-kill pile. "Hey, wanna get our rabbits and bring them back to camp?"

"Well we just buried them, so how about we do a little battle training first?" Nectarpaw suggested. As much as he wanted to victoriously lay down his catch in the fresh-kill pile, he also wanted to spend a little more time with his new friend, and get some training done. Battle training seemed like the perfect thing to do, and it didn't even take that long.

Stonepaw blinked. He didn't realize how little time had gone by. The gray tom felt a prick of warmth at how fast they had gotten along. "Oh yeah, let's do some training!" He replied, liking Nectarpaw's suggestion a lot.

Thinking about his success with battling, Stonepaw felt excited to show his moves on another apprentice- especially his friend.

"Ready? You make first move," Nectarpaw said, sliding into a battle crouch in front of his friend. He waited for Stonepaw to start, wondering how good he was. Nectarpaw had actually never done battle training before, but he thought he would be good at it. He bet that Stonepaw than he was, though.

Facing Nectarpaw, Stonepaw felt a rush of adrenaline flow through his large body in preparation for battle. He kept his claws sheathed since this was a mock-fight, but he still felt a shift in mind and spirit. With a deep yowl that instinctively rumbled through his chest, the gray apprentice launched his entire weight at his friend with paws outstretched.

OOC: I don't use the battle system for practice, is that okay?

IC: Nectarpaw was surprised by how scary the apprentice could when he was trying to be. He instinctively tried to dodge out of the way, but Stonepaw's paw hit his shoulder, knocking Nectarpaw off balance. He then sprung at his friend, and though he was a little late with his jump, decided to attempt to cuff him.

OOC: Sure, I got no probs with itXD

Stonepaw ducked his head at Nectarpaw's cuff, momentarily unbalanced at the move. Now in a crouching position below his opponent, the gray apprentice struggled to land a blow. Then an idea lit in his mind like a lightbulb. Moving his leg forward, Stonepaw moved to trip Nectarpaw to catch him off guard.

Nectarpaw landed on his chest with a thump, being caught rather off guard. His shoulder hurt slightly now from both attacks, but he ignored it. He remembered being taught how to push over an opponent using speed as an advantage, and dashed at Stonepaw head on. He wasn't quite as fast as he would have liked, because of his aching shoulder, but he hoped it was enough to momentarily knock over Stonepaw.

Stonepaw felt a rush of satisfaction that his move worked. When the tom thought he saw Nectarpaw wince, a pang of worry flitted in his system. Distracted, it was enough to send the large apprentice toppling over, exposing his side dangerously into the open air for Nectarpaw to easily target. He flailed for a moment, hoping his flapping paws would keep his opponent at bay. The gray apprentice was in trouble

Seizing his chance, Nectarpaw attempted to paw at Stonepaw's exposed side. As he did so, a flying paw jit the side of his face, then his already sore shoulder, which he was basically unable to use now. He managed to dodge the rest of Stonepaw's legs, but having only one front paw to attack with made things a bit more difficult.

OOC: Who should win?