An Important First Lesson [C]

Irispaw bounced along in Poppyshine's wake, eager for her first full and proper day as an apprentice. She looked around eagerly as they walked. It was one of her first times going so far from the camp, and she was eager to get her first taste of the world outside the camp (at least, her first sanctioned taste.) She'd been anxious to learn whatever the Deputy (she still couldn't believe the Deputy was her mentor) decided to teach her.  They didn't seem to be heading towards the River as far as she could tell, so hunting was probably off the table. Maybe tracking? Her collection? A lay of the land?

Oh, wait, Poppyshine had stopped walking and was waiting for her to pay attention, oops. Irispaw shook her head a bit to pull her head out of the clouds and focussed on Poppyshine, pupils blown wide with attention.

A fight? A spar? From day one? Though she was excited for the prospects of learning from the great Poppyshine, starting out with fighting from the get go made her a little nervous. She'd only ever really done play fights with her nursery-mates, and never been the best at it. She was too impatient, too scrappy, always rushing in without thinking too much to the consequences, and it never served her well in a fight. Between the long string of losses and seeing so many strong and powerful warriors and apprentices moving around the camp lately with injuries to spare... the idea of fighting made her a bit nervous.

But still! She'd never get anywhere in life if she didn't face her fears and throw herself straight into the future with all the reckless abandon that she did everything else. She squared up with her mentor and got into a crouch, tensing and waiting for permission. "Alright Poppyshine, ready or not, I'm definitely ready! Super ready and not at all nervous about anything ever! I'm gonna spar, and I'm gonna lose, and I'm gonna learn, and it's gonna be great! Let's do this!"

Irispaw stumbled back from the blow, moving back a few extra steps in surprise. Poppyshine had moved so fast! It was mere moments between the call for the start and the blow, and already she'd taken a hit.

Her heart picked up its pace in her chest as her pupils narrowed. The nerves and anxiety of earlier transformed seemingly instantly into full-blown adrenaline boosted excitement. This was a challenge. It was a challenge she wouldn't conquer, wouldn't win, but it was a challenge all the same, and it made her blood race.

Her tail flicked as she recovered from the stumble, crouching low to decide where to go, what to do. Poppyshine wanted to see what she could do, and she would do nothing less than her best. She thought to the tips and lessons Stormdance had given her with the mossball some time ago. This wasn't a fish, and certainly wasn't hunting, but she didn't see why it couldn't apply here.

Coiling in tight, she launched herself forward directly at Poppyshine and gave a fierce strike at her head, remembering last minute that her mentor was not, in fact, a moss ball, and should not be attacked with unsheathed claws. She sheathed them just before making contact and danced a bit to the side, preparing for the counter-attack.

Irispaw stumbled at the harsh tug, yelping in surprise at the yank itself. Poppyshine was far bigger and stronger than she, and the pull on not just her tail, but her spine itself was jarring, and severely rattled her.

A part of her was tempted to stumble and submit to Poppyshine, to let her claim her victory and stop all this rattling and batting that came with the sparring.


The rest of her found that part and crushed it beneath its paws, letting its cowardly mews feed the part of her that begged and screamed and fought for a challenge. Poppyshine had taken her on as an apprentice. Had given her a chance and hope where few other cats would. Had given her a challenge to overcome. And Irispaw would rise to it.


The blood that surged through her veins at the move carried with it a wave of determination, and she stopped her stumble and slide, shaking it off with some difficulty. Then she whirled about to face her mentor and struck at her once more, paw flashing out to cuff Poppyshine about the head before she backed up, a bit dazed from the speed and thrill of the fight she was so unused to. She didn't think she'd last much longer, but for this chance, she'd stay up until she physically couldn't if Poppyshine wanted her to. She'd do whatever it took.

The adrenaline that flooded her veins mixed with a strong feeling of pride and pleasure at the compliments Poppyshine had delivered. Doing well when in the face of a struggle was enough of a reward in and of itself for her to actively seek out challenges and difficult things. But the encouragement and kind words from her mentor certainly did wonders for boosting her ego. She preened a little bit before snapping back to focus with Poppyshine's following challenge.

Hoo boy. Dodging. They were already going at a must faster pace than she was necessarily used to, but she'd picked up some momentum over the course of their spar. But. Was the act of dodging in and of itself backing down from the challenge? Was it weakness, was it failure, to avoid the blows instead of facing them head on, accepting the trial of withstanding the damage?

...She'd have to think on that later. Right now Poppyshine was coming at her with a paw to the face and- slower speed or not- she Really didn't want to take anymore hits right now.

She barely dodged to the side of the blow- feeling her whiskers be almost caressed by the attack as it whiffed by her face. Taking advantage of the close range, Irispaw attempted to bite at Poppyshine's leg, only to narrowly miss, overreaching herself and having her jaws snap shut on air as her face bumped into the neck of her mentor. She took a few quick steps back with an almost sheepish grin at the faux paw.

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

---

'Effect Dice' : 3

Though she'd felt a brief flicker of worry at her mentor's reaction, Irispaw relaxed from her combat-ready stance with Poppyshine's amusement, the stress and tension of the spar wheezing out of her in matching peals of laughter. As Poppyshine spoke, she became increasingly aware of the heaviness and tension of her limbs, and she submitted to the siren's call of the ground at the words "fall over with exhaustion."

Sprawling out flat on her belly with legs spread all akimber before and behind her, Irispaw took a few long moments to catch her breath from the battle, thinking briefly of her reply.

"It was all, so tiring," she panted, feeling as if any more attacks- given or taken- would've knocked her for a loop. "But at the same time... Exhilirating."

She grinned up at Poppyshine, tail tip flicking with her delight. "I've never been in a serious bout like that before! It was all just kit stuff in the Nursery and with everyone else. Lots of pouncing and nibbling and getting carried away to cool off alone by an adult because you were getting too riled up and rambunctious."

"But this!" she exclaimed, rising to her paws, her excitement momentarily overpowering her fatigue. "This was great! I learned a whole bunch of different stuff! And I got some real experience and I learned a whole bunch about what I should and shouldn't do and it was so so nice to just learn something for real and be able to use it! I want to learn more! It'll be great for hunting, probably!"

Her mind raced through the memory of the spar, and settled on when she'd almost used her claws on Poppyshine. And it seemed almost like she'd wilted at the thought, ears and tail drooping from their previous height. "And... and probably for fighting other cats too, huh?"

Irispaw leaned into the comfort Poppyshine provided, leaning up against her and pressing her head against Poppyshine's neck at her reassurances.

Their leader, Perchstar, was a good one. She trusted her leader, her Clan. But the others... maybe not so much. She'd heard rumors and stories recently of stirrings, at the gatherings and inbetween, and well. The idea of hurting another cat- of another cat hurting her- was frightening. But she'd trust in her leader, in her mentor, in her Clan. They all did their best to maintain peace and happiness, and she would have to be a part of pushing for and propagating that.

That's what this training was all about. Becoming the best warrior she could be in service to her Clan. Irispaw leaned back from Poppyshine and gave her a small smile in return. "Yeah, it'll be good to know how to do the hunting and the fighting things." She backed up from Poppyshine, smile growing.

"That way if you and I ever get jumped by like five dozen foxes, we'll be able to beat 'em up no problem, just like Rowanpaw and Stormdance!" she exclaimed, pouncing towards imaginary enemies. "Or, or if we encounter any really big fish, that can fight and have teeth or something. I'll be able to take it down!"

Irispaw nodded with the utmost seriousness at Poppyshine's statement about giant fish with teeth. The River was deep, and she'd never personally seen the bottom. Who knew what lurked in the unseen! Certainly not Irispaw. But she would be prepared for whatever lurked beneath the misleadingly tranquil surface nonetheless. Water foxes beware.

At the offer of learning to catch prey, Irispaw's tail lashed in excitement. "Really? I get to learn prey catching next? Ah, that's going to be so so fun, I want to learn! I'm gonna learn! Can you teach me now? Please? We're already out here and I'm definitely not at all tired anymore and it would be so fun!" she pleaded, putting on her best begging face to try and talk Poppyshine into it. Admittedly, she was still very tired from the training session they'd been through earlier, but the thought of taking another very important step on her path to becoming a warrior made her giddy.