[ti]Private[/ti]Awakening

[silverfang218]

Amber eyes flutter open and take in the now familiar sight of the Dark Forest. The kitten instantly relaxes; he has decided that he likes this place. The cats here seem to be a little rough around the edges, but one of them has been willing to train him, which is not something that any of his clanmates had been willing to do yet. In his mind, that gives the cats here some credit. One would have to be completely out of their minds to believe this is a nice place, though. Even little Lionkit can sense the darkness here, though he has no idea why it is like that.

A quick glance at his surroundings tells Lion that he is not in the location he usually wakes up in. Well, that sucks; he has yet to be able to pick out any landmarks in these shadowy woods, so it’s highly unlikely that he’ll be able to figure out where he typically meets the cat that trains him. And so, the ginger kitten sits and patiently waits for something to happen around him or for another cat to stumble across him. As usual, his body language shows not even a hint of fear, though his eyes hold a sliver of disappointment. He usually looks forward to these little nightly training sessions.

[M'Lady]

Tansypaw was used to being in this place now. She came here in her dreams, often to talk with Spottedheart or Tanglefur about her plans. She knew some other cats now too. Sweetoak, obviously. Crowclaw, who seemed like a lost cause to her, he was utterly devoted to her enemy. Scarpelt, who she heard from Tanglefur was quite violent, but had no allegiances. She was after this one next. She hoped to appeal to his thirst for power side, maybe taking down Sweetoak would give him some incentive.

But a new scent touched her nose this fine evening, and she started when she recognized it as Mothclan scent. Were there old Mothclan cats here too? But it was such a new clan... She decided to investigate. She crept forward, her dark tabby pelt easily hiding her in the shadowy pine forest as she moved along. When she drew close, she realized it was a mere kit that she saw. And when she saw his amber eyes... Well, by her whiskers, it was a live cat! There wasn't anyone around him, but she figured that someone must be training the kit, he didn't look very nervous about being here. She drew herself up. She was here to rescue Finchpaw, but she wouldn't let a kit wander in here without knowing where he was.

"Hey, you!" She called, fern green eyes sparking as she stepped just a few paws out of the shadows. "Come with me." If this was a meeting place, she'd take him away from it. Maybe go to Tanglefur's spot, by his log. It was safer in that part of the forest. It wasn't that far from here, she knew this place like the fur on her paws.

[silverfang218]

The ginger kit’s ears twitch as a voice reaches them, a new voice. His eyes find Tansy as she steps out of the shadows, and Lionkit’s head tilts slightly to one side as he looks her over. She certainly didn’t look like many of the other cats he had met down here; she looked younger too, like an apprentice. Huh.

Well, he’d rather go with her than sit here by himself, that’s for sure. The kit hops to his paws and begins to follow this new cat with a happy spring in his step; tonight might end up being interesting after all. “I haven’t met you here before.” He says absentmindedly, “I’m Lionkit; who are you?” As he steps right up to Tansy, her MistClan scent hit his nose… though the kit, never having been outside of MothClan’s camp in the waking world, was unfamiliar with the scent. “You smell weird. You don’t smell like the cats from around here.” Tansypaw has Lionkit all curious about her now.

[M'Lady]

When the kit jumped up to follow along, Tansy turned on her paws to head towards her destination. She wondered if Tanglefur was around, who knew. When the kit introduced himself, she looked down at him with an amused twitch of her whiskers, answering in her soft tone. "M'name's Tansypaw." She told him, glancing back up down the path she was taking, her pawsteps silent against the pine needle ground. She snorted quietly when he commented on her scent, and then gazed back down at him with startling fern green eyes.

"I should hope not. M'not from 'ere like them." The apprentice hummed, her tail swishing from side to side along with her gait. "M'like you. Alive." She commented, before the log she met Tanglefur at came into view, and she brightened, quickening her step to come to her current favorite spot at the jutting roots. "But y'don' know much abou' this place, d'you?" The Mistclan cat mused, getting into a comfortable sitting position with her tail curled around her small paws. "I can tell y'about it, if y'want." She offered, beckoning him closer to sit by her. "Maybe w'can have fun 'ere together."

[silverfang218]

“It’s nice to meet you, Tansypaw.” Lionkit mews politely, just as his mother tried to teach him to be. “You talk kinda strange but your eyes are very pretty.” He blurts out, as kits are often known to do sometimes. “And if you are like me, then why don’t you smell like my clanmates? Which clan are you from?” He asks, though there is no clan rivalry apparent in his voice. He is merely curious about the origins of his new companion.

“I don’t know anything about this place. I was told that this is StarClan, but it seems a bit dark to be StarClan. That, and some of the cats I’ve met here are mean. Some of them look nice, but all but one cat I’ve met here so far has acted like a meanie. Well, and except for you. You seem friendly enough.” He continues as he plops down next to her. At her offer to tell him about this place, he nods though the kit seems rather unconcerned with whether this place is indeed StarClan or somewhere sinister. It doesn’t particularly matter to him where he is, as long as there are cats here who can teach him to be stronger.

When Tansy mentions they could have fun here together, he gives her a perplexed look. He likes playing and all, but playing is to be saved for the living world. In this place, he’s ready to learn. “I’d rather be taught how to be stronger than play here. This just doesn’t seem the kind of place for playing, ya know? Besides, I bet you can teach me stuff! You’ve probably been taught how to fight by your mentor or by the other cats here, right? No one in my clan will teach me anything.” This is what he is excited for; surely this apprentice, who is likely not from MothClan, has something she can teach him. He’d much rather her teach him to fight or hunt than tell him about where he is. Not that he’ll turn down that information, though.

[M'Lady]

She tried not to laugh as he... Sort of both insulted and then complimented her. Instead, Tansypaw dipped her head in thanks, humming her gratitude softly. "M'from Mistclan, we share a field border with y'clan." She informed him, with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "B'we don't all talk like me. M'father was from somewhere else, I talk li'him." She explained, amusement gleaming in her eyes. He was certainly an interesting kit, which was soon proven by his continuing words. It was more likely than not that this was another one of the living cats Sweetoak had dragged into this world, but he seemed to genuinely, desperately want to get stronger, to be trained by these cats.

"How 'bout I tell y'a little bit ov what happens 'ere, and then I'll show y'a battle move m'mentor taught me yesterday?" She offered, sure that a special Mistclan battle tactic would be more than enough to entice the eager kit. Once she saw that he was throughly excited, she parted her maw to speak.

"This place isn' Starclan." Tansy started simply, though her voice remained a bit indifferent. "It's called the Dark Forest. Bad cats go 'ere when they die. Cats that kill others f' fun, cats too ambitious for power, cats that are bette' off dead." She explained, though her eyes glimmered faintly. "Some aren' too bad. Tanglefur is nice, and Spottedheart is a bi' ov a weasel, bu' he's good f'information." The apprentice continued, listing off the cats that she did know. "The real baddie 'ere is Sweetoak. Nasty piece ov work she is. In life she killed 'er own kits, and the kits ov other queens too." She shook her head. "She might be known as Rosespark too, if y'ever meet 'er. She tricked my brother and tried t'trick me too, b'we're smart, aren' we? You felt it in your heart this wasn' Starclan, y'were right." She finished, and paused for a moment before she said anything else.

"B' if y'want to get stronger, this is the right place. Jus' be careful, okay? And if y'need anything, you can always come t'me." Tansy offered, before she huffed, and stood up, stretching out her limbs and flexing her claws.
"Now why don' I teach y'that move? We oughta stretch our legs a bi' before I gotta get up in the morning."

[silverfang218]

MistClan, hm? He memorizes her scent; they may be companions here, but in the living world, they are mortal enemies! He nods as she explains her strange speech pattern. He doesn’t dislike the way she talks, and instead he just finds it interesting. He’ll be able to recognize her voice easily, that’s for sure. When Tansy offers not just information about where they are but also an awesome fighting move. Aw yeah, Tansypaw just rocketed up his list of favorite cats. He nods excited, his small tail curling around his little paws as he patiently waits.

He nods again as she explains that this is indeed not StarClan and as she talks about how the cats here are. Lionkit isn’t completely stupid, and none of these cats seemed like StarClan cats. He also notes the two names she gives him, Spottedheart and Tanglefur. He hadn’t met either of them, though he doesn’t like the sound of Spottedheart. Information is useful to cats better at using it than Lionkit is, so Spottedheart seems wholly uninteresting to the young kit.

He’ll certainly keep everything in mind when he’s here; he’ll have to make sure to not put much trust in these cats. He does have to agree that this certainly seems like a good place to train. Rosespark, or Sweetoak, seems pretty willing to teach just about any young cat who wanders in here, even if she… kills kits? Well, that’s not good. Oh well. None of this information produces any fear in the kit, though. Merely a mild interest. He grins as Tansy offers to help anytime he needs, and he nods enthusiastically to her warning to be careful. “I will.” He promises.

When she then offers to teach him that promised move, he leaps to his paws with his little tail wagging back and forth. This is really what he wanted! “Yes please!” He mews excitedly. He steps away from her, so that she has room enough to show him, his amber eyes glittering and a happy smile on his face.

[M'Lady]

He promised to be careful, and that was all Tansy needed. As long as he knew what this place was, who the cats were, and was aware of the dangers, she would let him do as he pleased. She sighed. If only her naive brother Finchpaw could be the same way. Considering that a kit would listen and take all this in stride, she would think someone of Finch's maturity level would as well. Oh well, she'd take care of her brother. That was the whole reason she was here, wasn't it?

"Now, m'going to teach y'something that only Mistclan cats do, okay?" She told him, whiskers twitching as she noted his obvious excitement. After he backed away, Tansypaw tensed her muscles, and then reared up on her hind legs, her tail tucked away and out of sight. It was rare to see a cat 'without' a tail have such perfect balance, and with this balance, she brought her forepaws crashing down with deadly accuracy, aiming for a small branch of pine needles that cracked under the force. She wasn't a very large apprentice at all, so it was considerably due to her rearing up.

She brought her fern green eyes up to meed amber once more after she straightened herself up. "Notice how I tucked in m'tail? Gives enemies less t'grab onto. Mistclan cats fight like that." She explained, and then continued on. "That way, a cat can' trip y'up when you're rearing, and y'wanna bring y'paws down on their head or somethin'." The apprentice spoke proudly, glad she mastered at least the balancing part her mentor had taught her. "Get up on y'hind legs, I'll teach y'how to balance withou' y'tail." She ordered, nearing the kit and poking his side with a paw.

[silverfang218]

Lionkit’s amber eyes watchs his teacher carefully, taking in her movements. He nods swiftly at the declaration that this is a MistClan technique; he smiles at her gratefully. Some of MothClan’s warriors came from MistClan, so it’s likely lots of them also know the technique, yet the thought of learning something foreign is a thrilling thought to the young cat. He looks a bit awed as he watches the larger apprentice rear up and smash down on some poor innocent pine branch.

Lionkit listens intently as Tansypaw starts to explain what she did. He nods again as she mentions how her tail was tucked in and how it helped give enemies less to grab onto. It makes perfect sense, especially for Lionkit who has attacked a number of warrior tails. It’s easy to grab onto a cat’s tail and, while Lion is too small to knock over another cat by grabbing onto their tail, he is more than capable of getting a pained screech in response.

“Yes, show me please!” Lionkit grins as she pokes his side, playfully swiping at his teacher’s paw. The ginger tom carefully stands up on his hind paws, his front paws waving a bit and his tail instinctively sweeping back and forth to keep his balance. He tilts his little head to one side, waiting for her to explain the balancing part. Balancing while using his tail is difficult enough, but she reared back without using her tail at all! The small kit is nearly giddy at the thought of having that much power! Though, his expression stays somewhat serious as he concentrates hard on Tansy’s every word.

[M'Lady]

"S'mostly practice," She told him, watching on as he rose up on his hind legs, tail waving wildly to keep his balance. "Takes awhile t'balance, then takes awhile t'fight." She hummed, stepping around him to study his form. With a nudge of her paw, she pushed his hind legs a bit farther apart from each other, and then after a moment of thought, one of them a bit more forward.

"Th'trick is t'lean most ov y'weight onto one leg, and use the other t'keep y'balance," She offered up the information, studying his form as she instructed him. "There y'go, see? Y'not using y'tail as much." Tansypaw said, a note of pride in her slurred voice. He was a good kit, a fast learner. She could see why he'd be attracted to training in Dark Forest. Though, their teachings were a bit questionable. They were a bit repetitive, no one was even learning or changing their moves! It irked Tansypaw to watch them train and not be able to correct their stances or show them how to more easily unbalance an opponent. But she was just an observer here, she couldn't really interfere much. Not as a living cat.

"Now, when y'ready, try tucking y'tail between y'legs. If y'fall, s'okay, it takes practice." The apprentice spoke, though she was tensed and ready to lunge forward and break his fall should he land on his nose. The poor dear, she didn't approve of getting hurt during training, even accidentally. Especially since it was a kit.