flowers in the night [c]

Nightdancer stood across from her apprentice in the sandy hollow, ThunderClan's favored ground for battle training; bracing herself for potential impact. "Alright, Rosepaw- come at me when you're ready. I want to see what you can do."

Power and grace, she reminded herself. Overpowering her opponent as required, and gracefully using their own strength against them when necessary; a simple strategy that had served her well as a warrior of ThunderClan.

She didn't bother telling Rosepaw to go easy on her. She could take whatever the apprentice threw her way.

"You're certainly enthusiastic," Nightdancer commented, barely fazed by the apprentice's headbutt. She had braced herself for the attack, and- on top of that- Rosepaw hadn't been able to hit as hard as another warrior could. "Still, you need to mind your stance in a fight- you don't want to leave yourself vulnerable to unexpected attacks. If you can't overpower your opponent, you need to find some way to use their own strength against them."

Though she had no way in mind to demonstrate that particular trick to Rosepaw in the moment, because overpowering the apprentice would be easy. She had to make a conscious effort to hold herself back for the sake of training: there wouldn't be much to learn if her apprentice was knocked to the ground with a single strike.

Instead, it was a series of swift and graceful movements as Nightdancer circled her target, a series of strikes delivered too quickly to block; and a well-placed (but somewhat softened) strike to incapacitate her- if only for a few moments.

"The best way to learn is by example: your opponents won't always be playing fair. Try to overcome it."

Nightdancer used Experienced Steps, dealing 8 damage and costing 10 SP! Rosepaw is Stunned for 1 turn!

Rosepaw
7/15 HP (-8)
25/30 SP

Nightdancer
45/50 HP
110/120 SP (-10)

"I'm trying to teach you," Nightdancer fought to keep her voice even. This- this felt good, in a way, even with her apprentice's dramatic tendencies; attempting to train Rosepaw, remembering how natural her own movements felt when she had a goal in mind. Hearing her own voice for more than a second at a time. She felt more like herself in these moments, or the self she'd left behind and lost somewhere along the way to where she was. "You should be able to break out of something like that, if you try. If you have to fight someone stronger than you, you'll need to be able to predict their movements."

She took her battle-ready stance again. "Training should be tiring, Rosepaw, but I promise that I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm going to come at you again- try to move out of the way as soon as you see it coming, and use my own momentum against me. You're on the smaller side, which gives you a specific advantage: your opponent is likely to underestimate you."

Nightdancer used Front Paw Blow, dealing 7 damage and costing 5 SP!

Rosepaw
0/15 HP (-7)
25/30 SP

Nightdancer
45/50 HP
105/120 SP (-5)

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

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'Effect Dice' : 5

"Good, you're learning," Nightdancer dipped her head in acknowledgement as Rosepaw moved out of the way and leapt onto her shoulder. "That was a good move, aside from your hesitation. You can't second-guess yourself. If you're not sure what to do, trust your instincts."

The warrior let herself fall, but quickly returned to her paws. "Your next lesson is to accept defeat with grace. If you throw a fit every time your opponent knocks you down, you'll be distracted and not paying close enough attention- it just makes you an easier target."

To demonstrate, she carefully bowled Rosepaw over- taking caution to keep from actually hurting the apprentice- and waited to gauge her response.

Nightdancer used Headbutt, dealing 7 damage and costing 5 SP

Rosepaw
0/15 HP (-7)
18/30 SP

Nightdancer
40/50 HP
100/120 SP (-5)