Apachepaw training with Nightfeather

Apachepaw rushed through the forest, normally one to stop and admire the light as it flitted through the leaves dappling the earth in gold, or listen to the bird songs as the avian creatures flitted through the trees. But not today, today he was going to train! Leaping over a log Apachepaw bounded along paying no heed to the world around him, in his rush to reach his mentor only slowing when he was several meters away from the burnt sycamore, it would not due to come rushing out like a blind idiot. Scaring all the prey away, every wolf knew that the burnt sycamore was where wolves went to learn how to hunt and what would he hunt if he was stupid enough to come crushing along alerting everything from here to fourtrees of his presence?

Calmly the male walked the rest of the way, practicing the silent way the warriors placed their feet as he had often done in camp and while out patrolling. He had to admit he was becoming rather good at it, and he was excited to show Nightfeather what he had managed to learn from that one time they had trained together. A wicked grin spread across the apprentice's face as a thought struck him, scenting the air the way he had been shown- and also practiced- Apachepaw locate the general position of his mentor. Then, silently he stalked around to the back of the sycamore using the brush and shadows to his advantage. When such things were no longer available he scurried quietly to a dip in the ground before using a rather large stone to cover his advances toward a large bush.

Once within its branches Apachepaw attempted another thing he had been trying to learn, something he observed while watching the wind toy with the trees. he attempted to become one with the bush, up wind of Nightfeather Apachepaws swayed with the bush as the wind moved it. Not as elegantly as he would become when he became a warrior, but he was still learning the ways of the hunter and so he had so many ways he could improve. in fact Apachepaw thought he'd never stop improving, his insatiable desire to learn and understand constantly propelling him forward. peering through the leaf cover Apachepaw spotted Nightfeather sitting at he base of the tree, her back turned to him. Suppressing the desire to wag his tail or shiver in delight the male silently stalked forward, not as silent or skilled as a warrior the apprentice was doing a pretty good job until the normally patient wolf got ahead of himself and stepped on a branch when he was only a few feet away from the Warrior's tail.

He froze, well stopped next to the bush that had dropped the very twig he had stepped on. In its shadow Apachepaw once again began to sway with the plant as the wind caused it to move and shift. His eyes focused on a point near Nightfeather that allowed him to view her in his peripheral vision instead of staring at her directly for fear of giving himself away farther. If she detected him he would give up his little hunt, but he was not about to simply reveal himself, he wanted to see if he had practiced enough to have enough skill to avoid a warrior's detection.

His heart pounded as Nightfeather's eyes settled on him, but he continued to do what he had practiced and he had to admit he was surprised, no, shocked when his mentors eyes moved away from him to take in the surrounding. She had to have looked st him three times but never really saw him, his heart still pounded this time in excitement, it worked! His idea had actually worked! He was so close to her and she hadn't even seen him! He wanted to leap into the air and howl his pleasure to the sky, but he did not, waiting for his mentor to return to watching the birds before creeping forward remaining few feet the male leaped pouncing on his mentor's tail before rolling away out of her reach in case she attacked him- he had set her on edge after all, no sense if remain within range of those teeth- laughing in pure joy pride shinning in his eyes.

Laying they on the ground the apprentice looked up at his mentor, "It worked," Was all he was able to say, his voice and excited whisper, " I was so close to you, I could have reached out and touched you, but you didn't see me, you looked right at me but didn't see me!" he rolled around on the ground celebrating his achievement. For him being able to sneak up on his mentor was better then being complimented by Shadestar or given the juiciest piece of prey. He had worked out an idea he had had, using things he had seen from Warriors, his mentor, and simply nature to be able to sneak up on his mentor. Even with his pelt he had managed to blend in well enough to cause the eyes to pass over him allowing him to attack Nightfeather's tail. This was without a doubt the best day of his life!

The male stilled at Nightfeather's warning, sitting up the wolf cocked his head as he regained his composure. "I remembered what you had showed me the first time we went hunting," He began," Then I'd watch as other Warriors went about their work, as I practiced I noticed how some insects and birds will actually move with the branches while moving. This made them rather hard to see and find, and so I decided to learn how to move with the land as well as simply be quiet as I moved through it, I honestly didn't think I'd be able to sneak up on you but I thought I'd give it a try to demonstrate what I've learned and have been practicing." His voice took on an excited edge toward the end.

Apachepaw smiled up at her before dipping his head in respect. " Thank you!, I appreciate the offer." he said before pausing, his head cocked to one side as he though about what he wanted to learn. " I'd like to learn defensive fighting, I've toyed with the idea that I can actually use that to create a good offense, through that I think O can then start to apply offensive moves to my fighting skills. "

(Sorry it is so short, viruses.)

((It's okay ^^))

Nightfeather nodded. "Alright. Pretend I'm a ThunderClan warrior. I'm going to attack you, and you try to defend. I want to see what you can do first, before teaching you anything new," she said. She watched for the apprentice's reaction while considering what move to attack him with, and how he would attempt to defend himself. "It's okay if you need a minute to think of a defense, or think of what I might do. You won't be given this time in battle, but I think it's fine to give you a moment during training. Tell me when you're ready," she said, still watching the apprentice intently.

Apache stood, studying his mentor for a moment, she was larger then we was- after all he was still a growing wolf- but her form was small and slender speaking of agility and maneuverability. She was also more skilled then he, having only watched as trained apprentices or warriors tussled, being the ever inquisitive pup he had constantly badgered the warriors with questions, asking about the technique the way to move your body in an attempt to learn as many details as he could. But knowing the theory behind something was different that actually doing it, all he had even had was branches, bushes, other pups, and imaginary foes to practice on. Never a skilled warrior such as Nightfeather, all he really could do was work to avoid and find a possible counter. he did not have enough skill to be able to dictate the fight and keep her on the defense. No, he'd have to watch and observe while at the same time defending himself against her. he'd have to hold out, get a feel for her rhythm, then totally mess it up. Even inside his head it sounded hard!

Adjusting his stance so he stood light on his feet, ready to move or react Apachepaw nodded a grim look of determination set on his face as he carefully watched his mentor taking in the subtle movements of her body. The way her weight shifted, the flicking of her ears and eyes, the title of her lips, the way her paws and chest faced, subtle signs that normally one did not pay attention to or even notice. Signs that told the male so much about a wolf's intentions, emotions, and often times thoughts. A trait he had learned from his mother that allowed him to become more in tune with a wolf, able to predict and tell a fellow clan-mate their emotions and thoughts in an eerily accurate way while seeming to merely be sitting next to them or across the camp from them. A trait he often hid preferring to keep his talent secret in order to hold the element of surprise or avoid awkward conversations. Now he put this talent to use as he watched his mentor intently, ready to react but not sure how this whole thing would turn out. "Okay," He said after silence had enveloped them for several minutes, "I'm ready."

Nightfeather watched as the apprentice adjusted his stance, looking straight into the younger male's eyes. While it was fairly clear by the look of determination on his face that he was watching her intently, Apachepaw wasn't giving much away - a skill that the warrior was glad the apprentice possessed, as teaching it probably would have been quite difficult. Still, her ears twitched in annoyance in being unable to read the younger wolf. She knew it shouldn't annoy her, seeing as she wouldn't be meeting Apachepaw in battle, and that she was simply training him, but it still bothered her. The dark warrior forced the annoyance away and put a calm look on her face when the apprentice announced that he was ready.

Nightfeather nodded slightly, looking straight at the younger wolf. She had run through several tactics in the time it took Apachepaw to prepare, finally deciding on one moments before he had said he was ready. Hoping that he hadn't predicted her move, the warrior shifted her own stance to stand lighter on her feet before dashing toward the apprentice, and then to his side. The move she would attempt was usually performed from behind, but this would do as well. Attempting to perform it from the front wouldn't be nearly as effective, if it worked at all. Shifting to the side slowed her down a bit, giving Apachepaw extra time to react. Her eyes locked onto his shoulders, she raised her front paws so as to come down, grab onto his shoulders, and immobilize him.

((ksldf. I'm terrible at writing combat posts))

He had seen her body language change, the subtle shift of her eyes as her mind planned out where she was about to go. he knew she would charge him, but he was not accustomed to watching something with such speed! Adernaline shot through his veins as his heart leaped in surprise, he had predicted correctly as Nightfeather suddenly moved to the side to attempt to pin him. Even so he barely had time to roll out of the the way as a paw slammed the earth where his shoulder had been. Leaping to his feet the apprentice began to shift his legs, keeping his muscles moving to help him react faster he had no idea what he was going to do. So he allowed he followed his gut, she was bigger them him, but not by much, she was also very fast lightly built meaning they probably weighed around the same amount. These thoughts took place in less then a second as his body reacted to his mind's command, he had ended up behind his mentor as he had rolled and so his legs tensed his body propelled forward as he barreled into her just before her back leg began pushing up with his head and shoulders while his legs shot between her hind legs hoping to drive her off balance and trip her at the same time he had a vague idea what to do if he succeeded, if he failed...well he'd figure it all out when the time came.


(It's alright I'm not very good at all!)

As she went dow the male relized with a start that he too was being dragged down, he hurridly pulled himself away from his mentor his mind realing his eyes noticing how she moved. As she hit the earth his instinct was to leap on her in an attempt to pin her, but she reacted much faster then him and was soon back on her feet. He noted how she teatured slightly, her eyes wide she had not expected him to dodge let alone counter her attack.

In reaction to her quick moves the male charged trying to same tactic she had just done, he charged her but instead of simply moving to one side he predended to be moving to the one side before suddenly leaping to her left his unistial rightward direction a complete faint. He attempted to place his right forepaw on her shoulder the other wrapping around her left front leg in another attempt to through her off her balance and pin her his teeth making a grab for the underside of her throat. A move he had seen a warrior do while tusstling with an apprentice, if he managed to pull this off he would push down with his right paw using his chest as well, while at the same time pulling the underside of her neck and leg toward him.

The male was surprised when Nightfeather went limp, he hadn't expected her to give up so easily. Part of his nagged at the back of his mind that this could be a trick, but it didn't make sense in a battle to suddenly give up and so he slowly released the grip he had on her throat with he jaws, untangling his forepaw from her's. His head cocked eyes showing his confusion, his body was still wired and tense from the mock battle.

He was unprepared for Nightfeather's sudden attack, only his keyed up nerved saved him from being tossed away, but he still toppled over his long legs flailing as they tried to regain their footing. Fallen leaves and dirt churned around him as he finally found his feet, but he had wasted time, he could not react to Nightfeather's next move.

All he could do was watch as Nightfeather reared up, his ears flicking ack as his mind searched for a possible counter. But his body was still slow, untrained like that of his mentor he would not be able to avoid this attack. He admited defeat when Nightfeather paused and stopped her final blow, and he sat down panting a smile curling his lips. "I almost had you." he said, shaking his head before a hoarse laugh shaking his shoulders, " I stil lgot a lot t olearn, but i can only get better from here."

Pride welled up in the apprentice's chest at his mentor's praise, and he could not help but duck his head in embarissment. Only to have it pop up at the mention of question, "If I asked as many questions as i have we would be here all day." he joked, before turnign serious, "I do have one that strikes me as important, why did you choose to play dead? It is a risky move to play in battle, so why?"

Apache mulled the information over, a smile brightening his face when he said, "So you didn't know what to do, i almost had you!" he once again chuckled, knowing that by now all prey had fled the area as they had tusstled. "So, if you could how would you break out of the hold i had you in?" he continued, picture a way that was a little crazy but might actually work.