with a stranger [C]

Adderdawn

Though he still wasn't sure why Smallbean had charged him with an apprentice so soon, Adderdawn wasn't going to let his reservations stop him from being a good mentor-- or trying to, at least. Adderdawn didn't consider himself much of a teacher, not in any regard, and recent events had given him a particularly prickly disposition. When he went to rouse Ravenpaw from his rest with the rise of dawn, the nudge he gave to the small tom's flank was a bit harder than he'd meant it to be, tone gruffer when he murmured, "Your training starts today, Ravenpaw. Get up and follow me." That was all he'd said then, wavering in front of his new apprentice for a bit before turning to pad towards the mouth of camp.

Their walk through the territory had been equally quiet. Adderdawn tried to reflect on how his training had gone with Coyotegrin, but while he liked her well enough and considered her some degree of family, even if quite removed, it'd been... impersonal. His ear flicked in consideration of their first spar. It was one of the earliest things he'd done as an apprentice, with little to no training under his paws. But, he'd learned, and learned quickly. Now, though he was small, he was light on his paws and capable in a fight. He thought so, at least. And maybe that was just how all apprentices were trained-- thrown into the deep end. As they neared the lone stump, craggy bark rising out of the moors, Adderdawn stopped their walk and turned towards Ravenpaw again. It was the first he'd looked at, or spoken to, his apprentice since they'd started out of camp. "Attack me." That was it. That was all had been said to him. "I know you're young. I know you know nothing of being a warrior. But follow your instincts; act accordingly. Strike first." Adderdawn's shoulders squared and he lowered himself slightly in wait.

Ravenpaw

Ravenpaw awoke to a sharp push. The tom’s instinctual reaction was to let out a hiss, eyes blinking open only to be met with unfamiliarity. It took him a moment to remember where he was - his new nest, the one for apprentices - and who the cat who pushed him was. Adderdawn, his mentor. The tom had never met the warrior before, and didn’t know what to expect - in terms of training as well as his mentor’s personality. From what he knew, training seemed to be very mentor-based; almost everything stemmed from what the mentor wanted. So, with any luck, Adderdawn would be half-decent at his job.

The newly-named apprentice pulled himself out of his nest, neutrally featured as he followed his mentor without words or complaints. It was his first outing past the walls of camp, and he did his best to memorize and notice what he could, which wasn’t much. It all looked the same - dull, rolling hills of the moor, without many distinguishing features. One of the few of those was a dark feature that Ravenpaw couldn’t make out until he got closer; it appeared to be a tree stump, on its own within the relentless nothingness of the rest of the territory.

Adderdawn stopped abruptly, and Ravenpaw stopped himself well before he crashed into the other tom. He stared at his mentor, ignoring his thoughts (it’d be more logical to learn to hunt first; surely there aren’t enough predators that fighting will be more important than that), and instead mimicking the other tom’s stance as best he could, crouching slightly. He had no hope of winning, especially in a flat-out brawl. Perhaps some strategy could be used, but he didn’t know anything. Adderdawn already expected the attack, and Ravenpaw couldn’t act confused since he’d already readied himself for the spar. He was fully prepared to lose - but his mentor couldn’t have expected else, as he hadn’t been trained at all.

The inevitable couldn’t be delayed. It’d be best to get it over with quickly, then, so he’d lose as little energy as possible. Ravenpaw leapt towards his mentor, keeping his claws sheathed - he was pretty sure that was what was expected as far as spars went. He didn’t have much strategy. His best shot was to somehow knock Adderdawn down, which was unlikely. His mentor was small, but so was Ravenpaw; more importantly, he was much more experienced.

Oh well. He was doing his best.

Ravenpaw used Jumping Strike on Adderdawn, dealing 9 [first attack advantage; 6+3] damage and costing 7 stamina.

Sunpaw
20/20 HP
53/60 SP [-7]

Adderdawn
31/40 HP [-9]
100/100 SP