Practice Makes Perfect [Primrosepaw]

Smokefeather slowly stretched in her makeshift nest, not particularly wanting to get up. She'd been picking up the slack of missing mentors by helping train all of the apprentices, and by the time she'd gotten back to camp the night before, she'd more or less collapsed into her nest and allowed exhaustion to claim her. Now, rays of sunlight had her glaring up at the gaps in the twoleg nests' foundation as she tried to figure out what she was going to do today.

A large part of her just wanted to curl up beside Bloodstrike and go back to sleep. But there were apprentices to train, including her own. Smokefeather sat, and wearily swiped a paw over her face once more before making her way out of her nest, careful to avoid waking her mate or the other cats sleeping around them.

"Primrosepaw," Smokefeather called softly, gazing down at the apprentices that had curled up into one corner of the abandoned twoleg nest that Skyclan had been residing in. She briefly considered waking Beechpaw as well, but decided against it. The large silver and white apprentice looked as if she were out cold, paws twitching as if in a dream.

Smokefeather allowed Primrosepaw a few moments to wake up before turning back to her. "We're sparring today, I know it's been a while since we've had a chance to with everything else going on." She said simply, turning to lead the cream-tabby pointed apprentice out of camp. She'd fought a raccoon with Dustpaw the other day, and had decided that she'd focus more on teaching her own apprentice combat. Much as she wanted to protect her, it was necessary to learn and Smokefeather knew she wouldn't do her daughter any favors if she avoided it. Primrosepaw had become much better with hunting and finding her way around without sight recently, and learning to fight would be the next step in her training. It wasn't her first time sparring with Primrosepaw, or even fighting, but combat had been less important than re-learning how to hunt and navigate without sight. And the current predicament that Skyclan was in had meant that even Smokefeather was completely unfamiliar with where they had ended up.

Smokefeather had promised herself she wouldn't be the mentor that Sunflower was to her, and that meant actually teaching the little apprentice everything she could. She would not make the same mistakes Sunflower had that had driven her to seek out other apprentices for basic training and guidance; it was her duty to provide that for Primrosepaw. And that meant training her to fight and defend herself.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Smokefeather led her apprentice to the small twoleg garden she'd been using to train Beechpaw and Dustpaw. The ground was relatively flat and mostly clear of overgrown bushes, though blades of grass poked through gaps in the dusty gray stone beneath their paws.

Coming to a stop, Smokefeather turned her gaze to her apprentice. "Alright, you've learned to use your senses to pinpoint prey." she began. "And you know where I'm going with this. Your move." Smokefeather then stepped away from her apprentice, putting several paces between them before she turned to watch her, tail tip slowly twitching back and forth.

((You can make the first attack in your post, ^^))

((OOC: I assume sparring works the same as the normal battle system? I haven't had a chance to try it yet))

Primrosepaw's sleep had been deep and mostly undisturbed when she was woken by Smokefeather. It wasn't extremely early, so she woke easily, and stretched her stiff muscles from training the night before. "I'm up," she whispered as to not wake the rest of the den, "What are we going to do?" Sparring. In truth, it wasn't Primrosepaw's favourite activity, but she still had to defend herself somehow. Most warrior and apprentices relied so much on sight when battling that it made her feel out of place. Her generally passive nature may have added to her doubts. If they were better friends with the other clans (or, preferably, all the clans were friends) SkyClan would probably be in a better position.

Despite her dislike for it, she swiftly followed the silver and cream warrior out of the den. She was led to a small twoleg garden that seemed less overgrown than most others. The ground was almost covered with stone slabs that seemed to neat and tidy to be natural. As an automatic precaution, she breathed in deeply to check for scents of predators or unfriendly cats. There were some slightly stale scents of hr littermates, along with Smokefeather. Missing and unusually busy mentors meant untrained apprentices, and Smokefeather seemed to have taken up most of the training.

She nodded as they prepared to spar. Just like when she hunted, she took the time to pinpoint Smokefeather's exact position. Once she was confident in her location, she took a running leap and laded on the she-cats back. Raking her it with sheathed claws, she tried her best to hold on.

Primrosepaw used Leap-and-Hold on Smokefeather using 10 SP and dealing 6 damage.

Primrosepaw:
15/15
40/50

Smokefeather:
39/45
160/160

(Dice roll post because I forgot)

The member 'khamosa khin' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 1

Smokefeather watched her daughter's body language, waiting to see what her first move would be. It didn't take long for the apprentice to leap for her, just as Smokefeather had shifted her weight slightly in preperation to start moving. Most opponents wouldn't stay still for long in a fight, and she would not coddle Primrosepaw.

"Good," she grunted at the sudden weight on her back. It was easy to forget that her kits were growing, Primrosepaw was larger than she had been the last time she'd leapt onto Smokefeather's back. Sheathed paws battered her back and shoulders, and Smokefeather couldn't help a small smile. She'd used the same tactic on her own mentor, as well. That late newleaf training session seemed so distant, now.

Smokefeather allowed herself to sink to the ground, purposely shifting her weight so that the apprentice would have a more difficult time keeping her grip.

Primrosepaw
15/15
40/50

Smokefeather -pinned for this turn-
39/45
160/160

Primrosepaw smiled at her mother's praise, but quickly had to turn her focus back to the spar. Smokefeather's shift in weight made her grip start to slip. She was glad her mentor wasn't going too easy on her, even though the she-cat was her mother.

Surprise had kept her down, however, and the cream pointed apprentice had the upper hand. As she let go, the warrior whisked around to face her. She could tell by the brush of her fluffy tail on the ground and the feeling of breath. Knowing that she would launch an attack as soon  as possible, Primrosepaw lashed out with her forepaw. Luckily, her claws were still sheathed, as her paw clumsily hit her face with more force than she first intended.

"Ah! Sorry mum, didn't mean to hit you so hard!" She knew that in a real battle there wouldn't be time to apologise, but Primrosepaw would still try.

Primrosepaw used Front Paw Strike on Smokefeather, costing 10 SP and dealing 6 damage

Primrosepaw:
15/15
30/50

Smokefeather:
33/45
160/160

As Smokefeather had sought to do, shifting her weight around and struggling beneath the apprentice caused her to lose her grip, allowing the warrior to wriggle free and turn to face her.

Primrosepaw's paw flashed out to strike her, and Smokefeather took a quick step backward to dodge. Had the move landed, it would've been a solid hit, but she hadn't intended to just sit there and let her daughter pummel her. As it was, her forepaw merely fanned her face. While Primrosepaw was still off-balance, Smokefeather snapped one of her own paws up with claws sheathed, aiming to catch the apprentice by the shoulder, and hopefully off-guard.

"Don't apologize," whiskers twitching, she continued, "staying focused is important." Smokefeather's paw just grazed the fur on Primrosepaw's shoulder before she drew back once more, circling her apprentice.

Smokefeather used Dodge and Fight for -15 sp. Effect dice: 1,2,3: counterattack fail. 4,5,6: counterattack (5 damage) success. Counterattack failed!

Primrosepaw
15/15 hp
30/50 sp

Smokefeather
39/45 hp (damage negated)
145/160 sp (160 - 15)

The member 'kjSage' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 1

Primrosepaw's last move may have missed, but Smokefeather's counter attack had done nothing but graze her shoulder fur. As they began circling each other again, the apprentice decided to try the same thing as last time. She darted forward quickly and lashed out with a forepaw, trying to avoid any counter blows from the she-cat. However, she was tiring quickly, but not yet quite out of breath, and she didn't move quite as fast as she should of. Her plan had been to slip back away but the speed she traveled made it was to land a blow on her.

Primrosepaw used Front Paw Strike on Smokefeather, costing 10 SP and dealing 6 damage

Primrosepaw:
15/15
20/50 (30 - 50)

Smokefeather:
33/45 (39 - 6)
145/160

Smokefeather watched as her apprentice began to circle her as well, once more darting forward to strike at her mentor with a forepaw. Smokefeather took the blow this time, before she twisted to swipe her own paw at Primrosepaw's belly.

If she managed to dodge, Smokefeather would be impressed. Though she got the feeling that this sparring session would be over sooner rather than later regardless. She could tell that her apprentice was beginning to tire, but she'd done well.

Smokefeather used Belly Rake, costing 10sp and dealing -10 damage.

Primrosepaw
5/15 hp (15 - 10)
20/50 sp

Smokefeather
33/45 hp
135/160 sp (145 - 10)

Primrosepaw felt Smokefeather swipe at her belly, but dodged it as fast as she could. Using a similar move to the one her mother had used earlier, she launched a counter attack whilst the she-cat was distracted. The blow landed neatly on her shoulder, but Primrosepaw was now wheezing slightly from the fight. It had been a very successful spar in her eyes, even if some of her clumsier blows had missed. She would certainly sleep well tonight.

Primrosepaw used Dodge and Fight on Smokefeather using 15 SP. Effect dice: 1,2,3: counterattack fail. 4,5,6: counterattack (3 damage) success. Counterattack was successful!

Primrosepaw:
15/15 (dodge succeeded)
5/50 SP (20 - 15)

Smokefeather:
30/40 (33 - 3)
135/160

The member 'khamosa khin' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 6

Primrosepaw had moved faster than she expected, and then used Smokefeather's previous move against her. Smokefeather took the last blow, before sitting back on her haunches. Her earlier thoughts hadn't been wrong, Primrosepaw was out of breath. Smokefeather was less winded, but sitting was still a welcome respite.

"Enough, catch your breath." Smokefeather said, "you fought well today." They'd sit for a few moments before going back to camp. Their sparring hadn't taken long, and the garden they had sparred in was close to camp. They wouldn't have to endure sunhigh out in the open, at least.


Smokefeather did not attack.

Primrosepaw
15/15 hp
5/50 sp

Smokefeather
30/40 hp
135/160 sp

Primrosepaw was glad when Smokefeather ended the spar where they were. Together they sat together for a little, "Thanks Smokefeather," she said with a smile, "I think I did better than usual." Positivity was how she coped with almost anything, so even the small bits of happiness like today's success would help cover the disaster that was SkyClan's current situation.

"Uhm.. Mum? When do you think things will go back to normal?" Even if she had a gift of looking on the bright side, it was a storm cloud over everything that happened - cats missing, a territory destroyed and an entire clan misplaced.

Smokefeather eyed her daughter at the posed question. She'd been throwing herself into training apprentices to avoid thinking about Skyclan's current situation, not that she'd admit it. "I wish I knew." She said softly.

"The smoke still lingers heavily over the forest, and the fire burned for days. Wolfcall is doing what he can to hold the clan together but our territory is uninhabitable." Left unsaid was that she still very much agreed with Bloodstrike. He might not have caused the fire, but Spottedstar's poor decisions had left the clan with no allies to turn to for aid, no territory they could have taken a temporary shelter in. Their only option had been twolegplace, and even the abandoned section they had carved out for their own was far more hazardous than the forest was. And even now Spottedstar was still missing, as were other clanmates. As the days passed, Smokefeather knew that the chances of them finding each other again were dwindling, much as she didn't want to admit it.

Wolfcall was doing his best, but the clan was slowly growing thinner and more ragged. It was obvious, painfully so. That there was so little to be done to improve the situation other than trying to keep the clan fed was maddening.