We Both Spin Around in Circles

Sneaking out of camp had been no easy feat--it had took what felt like moons to sneak out of the apprentices' den without stepping on any of his fellow apprentices, using extreme caution, listening to their breathing to make sure they were still asleep and feeling his way forward with his front paws and his whiskers. Once he made it past there, it was a matter of sneaking out of camp. He did know a way that he had used once as a kit, but it was a much tighter fit, now. Still, he managed it nonetheless, and began the journey to Fourtrees. He had only been once, so he wasn't especially familiar with the route, but the scents of many cats, all the clans, intermingling, drew him onward.
Finally, he felt his nose bump something smooth; not a tree, a rock. The Great Rock. He scented the air, and all the clan scents surrounded him, washing over him strongly. He knew he must have been in the right place, so he sat. He wasn't entirely sure when Falconpaw would get there... It was hard for him to keep track of time, but he was guessing (based mostly upon temperature) that the night hadn't yet reached its peak. So, they had plenty of time. He flicked his tail as he waited, listening sharply for any noises, scenting the air every now and then to make sure he and Falconpaw weren't going to have any unexpected visitors.

Falconpaw hadn't had the best time. Rockthorn evaded his death sentence and Falconpaw saw how horrible he was. Though he had seemed bitter, inside he was heartbroken by it. That's why he was glad to have Emberpaw, an escape from it all. Hawkpaw was growing busier, trying to be the best warrior, not that he blamed him. Falconpaw just did border patrols. Hating the blood of other tasks. Trotting out, he glanced around and purred slightly when he saw the apprentice. Falconpaw grew suprised, when had he last purred like that? Maybe his mind was going bad... "Hey, E-emberpaw!" He greeted, fighting the bounce in his step as he quickly went to the other's side. "H-how are you?" The tom asked, looking at him even though he wouldn't notice. Something about Emberpaw just felt right, he didn't know why or what just yet.

Emberpaw's ears pricked up when he heard approaching footsteps, but it became quickly obvious that it was Falconpaw--he wasn't that familiar with Falconpaw's scent, but he recognized the ThunderClan scent, nonetheless. He purred, as well, though he didn't stop himself, like Falconpaw did. "Hello!" He mewed in greeting, "I'm good, just the same as always, really." Actually, Emberpaw was doing quite well, lately--he was feeling closer and closer to becoming a warrior, could feel it in his grasp. "How about you?" Falconpaw seemed to be in high spirits, compared to their last encounter, when Falconpaw had seemed rather down from the moment they met. This was a bit different, though, and the usually irritable apprentice found himself glad about that.

"B-better I suppose. Having something to l-look forward to helps a lot." He admitted, he flicked his ear. "I-i talked to my deputy about my fear, she's gonna have our medicine cat help with it. O-only a matter of time now." He added. With a twitch of his whiskers he examined the clearing. "It's nice out here without everyone else crowding it."

"That's great!" Emberpaw mewed genuinely, "See? I told you you just needed to work on it. You'll be hunting with the best in no time, especially if we're training together--you'll have an edge over everyone else, doing some extra training." With that, Emberpaw got to his paws; he agreed that it was nice to be out at night, without anyone crowding around. After all, being surrounded by too many cats could make it hard for Emberpaw to tell voices and scents apart, and he didn't like that. Still, he was more eager to train than he was to enjoy the silence. "So, I was thinking, we could do some battle training." He suggested (though it sounded more decisive than suggestive), "There's some moves that I haven't gotten the hang of--really, anything that involves jumping, I need to work on. What about you?"

Falconpaw failed to stop the smile, "Let's h-hope so." Hunting with the best... "My mentor hasn't taught me anything but, my friend, h-he showed me a few tricks." The tom mewed. "I'll take any t-training." He tom added, looked at the blind tom. It's a shame he can't see himself, he's rather handsome.. Falconpaw let out an audible squeak of surprise. What was wrong with him today? He shuffled his paws, and fr his fur hear up. We've only known each other for so long! There's no way he'd have the time to develop feeling like that.

Emberpaw flicked his tail, finding himself quite glad that Falconpaw had already been practicing a little; with time, Emberpaw was sure he could conquer his fears! Normally, Emberpaw wouldn't care so much about someone else's success, but... Falconpaw was different. He understood what it was like to work harder to prove yourself, and he didn't talk about Emberpaw as though he was less capable. "Okay," He mewed, backing up a few steps, "How about I try to attack you and hold you down, and you try to get free?"

"I-i can try!" The tom meowed, his tail flicking. He was small and skinny, getting away should be easy as he was not a big target​. If all else failed he could offset his balance somehow. He couldn't help smiling at this, bettering himself as an apprentice! He'd be a great warrior with a little push, right?

Shooorrrrt))

Emberpaw backed up a few more paces, then crouched; he could pinpoint Falconpaw's location based on scent and sound, but he knew he was far from perfect at this... Misjudging jumps was really the main problem he had with these things, but he hoped that jumping on a cat would be easier than jumping on a rock or other non-sentient target. After a short moment, Emberpaw leapt forward, paws outstretched, and managed to land right on top of Falconpaw, essentially tackling him to the ground and holding him down.

Falconpaw grunted as the extra weight hit him. When he hit the ground, he was focused on getting away. But, he didn't want to hurt Emberpaw. Shaking the thought from his mind, he pushed himself up as well as Emberpaw, then, rolled the other way. Rising neatly to his paws to his own surprise, he looked down at the apprentice he had, gracefully, shoved off.

Emberpaw was quite pleased that he had judged the attack to accurately, so even found himself pleased that Falconpaw was able to shake him off. After all, he knew that Falconpaw doubted his skills, so perhaps success would motivate him to keep practicing. "That was good!" He mewed happily, "I landed right on top of you, but you got me off really easily. Let's do it again!" Emberpaw back away, poised to try the same attack again; this time, however, Emberpaw leapt, only to land in front of Falconpaw and strike him over the head with his claws sheathed, aiming to knock him off-balance.