Dirty Claws [Closed]

Hawkstrike finished his meal rather quickly that day, settled on his choice to take matters into his own paws if none else reacted to what he felt was an obvious threat to the safety and well-being of the clan. He was trying to relax, but after losing everything once…his clan, his beliefs, his friends, his loved ones…he wasn’t willing to let it happen again. However high was the price of his actions, he was willing to pay it so long as it ensured the small clan’s survival and future prosperity.

After burying the bones of his meal, he quickly headed towards the apprentices’ den, hoping one of the excitable younger cats had a free day and would be willing to sacrifice it for some extra training from him.

He had seen first-hand how soft some of the cats of the clans were, how vulnerable they could be in a real war. He was well-aware that his method were less than honorable and often were labeled as brutal, but they also had proven to be very effective on the battlefield and in life-or-death situations…just what he feared these cats would succumb to if forced to face another, potentially stronger, cat one day.

His eyes landed on Burningpaw. He looked around, her mentor was nowhere to be seen, so maybe this was the chance he was hoping for “Burningpaw?” He called “Do you have the day free? I could teach you some of my battle techniques if you do”.

Burningpaw had been up early caring for the elders and doing a quick hunt. After catching a quick meal, she headed back to her nest for a quick nap. It felt like she had hardly laid her head on her paws before a voice called out to her. Raising her head immediately, Burningpaw trained her eyes on Hawkstrike, taking in his words in the soft haze of a nap. At the words of battle training, the she-cat grew excited. The fight with the RiverClan warrior quickly jolted to the front of her head and a wave of respect for the warrior fully woke her up.

"I'd love to." the ginger she-cat replied evenly as she quickly licked some fur on her shoulder down. It was nearing the end of her apprenticeship and she had grown quite much since that fight. It frustrated her though- she felt underdeveloped in the area of fighting due to Sunflower's cowardice. At first, it was endearing to her, but it slowly grew to be annoying. She was filled with such anxiety all day, yet did anybody know? No. You keep that to yourself and be strong for your clan.

As the two started heading for the entrance of the camp, Burningpaw's excitement grew. "You know," she said casually, as they entered the forest. "I admire how you fought that RiverClan warrior. It was thrilling." Her head tilted up to look at the branches above them. Was this the time to climb? Or was she socially bound to the ground?

Hawkstrike couldn’t hold back a smile as the apprentice almost jumped to her paws. Part of him was honestly fearing his offering to rejected when he made it, he wasn’t a stranger to apprentices that felt that once their usual chores were done, they were entitled to a day of resting and relaxing instead of trying to hone their skills further. Knowing this wasn’t the case with Burningpaw made him feel like there was still hope within the clan of thy retaking their position as a clan that won’t let others walk all over them without a care.

He almost had to follow the apprentice to the entrance of camp instead of the other way around, already planning what he could teach to Burningpaw once they were away from the heavily judgmental eyes of other warriors. He had a good deal of cats scolding him thanks to his fighting style already, if anything, he felt that was one of the reasons he had spent so long without any new apprentices for him to train. He did not need for yet another one and have this training session cut short.

At her words, however, he couldn’t hold back a chuckle “You weren’t half-bad either, Burningpaw. Using the terrain around you on your favor is always a wise move, and a good way to get the upper paw on intruders that don’t know it as well as you do” He finally managed to compliment the younger she-cat for his strategy in battle, something he couldn’t do back then thanks to Tinystar’s intervention.

He wasn’t training the apprentice out of boredom or selfishness, he was training her because he truly cared for the future of SkyClan in a forest were battles seemed to be so common, and death was always lurking around the corner. Maybe not at the time, but he knew eventually the can would see the good behind his actions instead of only his not-so-soft fighting techniques.

He waited until they reached a small clearing, surrounded by enough undergrowth to keep cats casually passing by from watching them, as well as any to sneak on them to spy on them without making enough noise for them to notice them far before they could get close enough “This is a perfect place…are you ready, Burningpaw?”.