not quite home [c]

"Sunpaw, time to get up."

Lichenwing stared down at his apprentice, the tip of his charcoal tail twitching back and forth. It was morning, and time for the first training session with his new apprentice. The past few moons had seemed to pass in a blur for Lichenwing. One moment, they'd been traveling, miles and miles, a seemingly endless trek... and the next, there was just pain, and fever, and oblivion. He'd woken half a moon ago to Echosong giving him some herb concoction that chased the fever away and cleared his head. But along with the fever it had also chased away the dream-life Lichenwing had been living in for as long as his body was too sick to leave the nest: a mixture between delirium, and desperate longing. It had been a shock to awaken and find that Juniperheart had not, in fact, joined ThunderClan to be with him. And she'd not brought her kits - their kits - to live with them, either.

Day by day, the dream had begun to fade, until hers was the only face he could remember. But it hadn't stopped the longing in his heart, nor the pain of losing kits that had never really existed in the first place.

Shaking his head, Lichenwing nudged Sunpaw gently and then quit the den to wait in the camp. Acornstem giving him an apprentice was unexpected, but welcome, and now that things were as smooth as they could be at the moment, he was determined to get back into some semblance of normalcy... and prove that he could be useful again.

Tall, tufted ears twitching in irritation, Sunpaw squinted up at the cat looming above him. His nursery days had ensured that he was used to sleeping in as late as he pleased. It took him a moment to realize that he was not, in fact, still living in the nursery, and the figure standing over him was his brand-new mentor. Murky eyes snapped open as the realization jolted through his body. He was an apprentice! Today would be his first step toward greatness.
At that, Sunpaw bounced to his feet, excitement clear on his face as he eagerly bounded after Lichenwing. Surely, Acornstem was aware of his potential– and therefore had assigned him one of the greatest of Thunderclan's warriors to teach him everything he'd need to know in order to become the living legend he was certain he could become.
"What are we doing today?" He squeaked. "Fighting? Patrolling? Chasing enemy warriors?"

"Well, I thought about doin' some huntin', but seeing as this ain't home territory, and we don't have real borders or nothin', I think it's more important that you learn how to defend yourself, before we get real deep out there, yeah? C'mon," Lichenwing tilted his head towards the forest and led his apprentice towards the exit. As they left camp, he glanced around, seeking Darkspirit in the collection of cats... his former mentor had seemed down a lot lately, and maybe he'd like to accompany them on this training session. But Darkspirit was nowhere to be found, and Lichenwing didn't have the faintest idea of where to look for him.

Resolving to ask the other tom to join them next time, the charcoal warrior padded through the trees with Sunpaw at his side, until the trees turned to bushes, and then the landscape opened up to a sandy lakeshore. The perfect place to spar. When there was sand beneath his paws, Lichenwing turned to face Sunpaw. "Alright, now. I'm gonna stand here," he took a defensive stance. "An' you're gonna come at me with all ya got, 'kay? Jus' so I can see what I'm workin' with here."

Fighting! A shock of excitement shot through Sunpaw's veins, ruffling his fur. He was already certain that this was a skill he would be naturally good at. Hopping a bit to loosen up, he padded confidently after Lichenwing through the forest. When they came to a stop, he grinned with barely contained excitement.
Joy turned into a brief flash of stunned confusion. All I've got? He had never thought about what would happen once the training session actually began. In hindsight it made sense that they would be fighting, but... he gazed up at the older tom, suddenly nervous. Lichenwing was a skilled warrior, and Sunpaw had absolutely no clue what to do.
He supposed he would just have to pretend he did. Masking his confusion with another, albeit weaker, grin, the young apprentice took a small step back. Here goes nothing. Paws sinking slightly in the cold sand, Sunpaw flung himself at his mentor, teeth bared. At the last second, he turned, throwing his shoulder into Lichenwing's flank, and bouncing backwards to clumsily land on his feet.

Sunpaw used Headbutt. -4hp, -5sp
Sunpaw:
Hp: 20/20
Sp: 55/60

Lichenwing:
Hp: 56/60
Sp: 140/140

It was a relief to him that Sunpaw seemed excited to try out sparring, and he flicked his half-tail, smiling over at his apprentice. It'd been a little while since Lichenwing had even had a proper spar, so he was looking forward to it. He had absolutely no intention to hurt him, of course, but it wouldn't do Sunpaw any favors if Lichenwing just let him win.

Bluegreen eyes watched the sandy tom, and he kept his guard up, waiting for him to make a move. Finally he did, and Lichenwing tensed, preparing for the impact of teeth in his shoulder, but at the last second, Sunpaw changed direction, slamming his shoulder into Lichenwing's flank. And then he bounced back, landing - albeit ungracefully - on all fours. Before he could fully recover, Lichenwing darted forward, his forepaws crashing into Sunpaw and sending him toppling. They came to a halt, and the warrior pulled back, grinning. "That was good, I didn' even see ya preparin' to switch up. But ya gotta make sure when ya hit, ya know where yer goin' after. Don't leave yourself open to an easy follow-up."

He stepped away, putting distance between them again. "Alright, again."

Lichenwing used Jumping Strike on Sunpaw, choosing to deal 0 damage at the cost of 7 stamina.

Sunpaw:
Hp: 20/20
Sp: 55/60

Lichenwing:
Hp: 56/60
Sp: 133/140 (-7)