[ti]Private[/ti]Take All The Courage You Have Left

[GnawingOnIce]

Meteorpaw had been training in this forest for a bit now with Finchpaw.
However, she was not caving in completely to this cat's demands.
She had her suspicions.
The dark gray speckled cat awoke in the forest, looking up and seeing Rosespark.
She got up and went over to her, it appeared like she was the first one there.
"Hello, Rosespark."
This would be the perfect time to confront Rosespark, but Meteorpaw would wait.
She kept her stance straight and ears like normal, expression neutral.
She patiently waited for Finchpaw to arrive,  she really didn't like seeing him in this place.
She was going to try to change his mind.

---
TAGS:
Mama
Dofferz!

[Mama]

Sweetoak was not nieve and could tell the feline had her suspicions.. besides, she had been coming a bit less then little Finchie. However, she kept from scoffing at her words and snapping back with one of her usual cold responses, but instead kept her happy face. “Why hello Meteorpaw!” She purred, her tail twirling up with excitement. “How are you?” Rosespark/Sweetoak mewed, lowering her head to the cats height.

[GnawingOnIce]

"I'm doing alright."
Meteorpaw glanced at her, she could barely stand to look into her eyes.
She flicked one ear and held her head up, looking around, trying to spot Finchpaw.
"Where's Finchpaw? Is he late?"
Meteorpaw turned to Rosespark, genuine confusion on her face.
"Will anyone else be joining us other than Finchpaw?"
She was trying to stall for a bit, trying to act like she usually would if she hadn't planned what she did.

[Dofferz!]

After a long day of apprentice duties and training, Finchpaw was finally able to enjoy a delicious piece of freshkill and return to his nice, warm nest. By quick glance, Meteorpaw was already drifting off into sleep. Humming lightly and being cautious not to tred on a tail, the bicolour slunk into his own nest, purring contently as he cuddled up alongside all of his apprentice buddies for an additional warmth.

Brown eyes snapped open where they did every night. No longer was he nervous when he entered the sad forest, and in actuality, finchpaw did not even refer to the forest as the 'Sad Forest' anymore. No longer did the tree's close in on the boy, swallowing him; as he made his way through, the branches opened up to welcome him.No longer did the gloomy,choking mist flood around him; it parted as he moved much like the Red Sea. The scent of rotten and death was oblivious to his nose any more. The sounds of nothing but scratching wood and distant yowls of the miserable were now deft to his ears.

He had one mission in mind: to find Rosespark.

And that was no longer difficult as Finchpaw began to learn the trail like the back of his whiskers. A left at the uprooted tree, straight at the funny looking mushrooms, and right until he came across the clearing that he, Meteorpaw, and Rosespark trained within. 'I wonder what I'll learn today!' he imagined that maybe she could show him some cool moves so he could see the surprised look on Slateface's face when he perfectly executed either a sharp and complex move that his mentor had never even taught him yet or seemingly perfected one he had previous difficulty with seemingly overnight.

A smile laced Finchpaw's lips as he finally stepped in to face the two here before him, tail waving lightly above him in anticipation. "Rosespark I missed you!" he grinned, crouching into a mock battle stance. "What are we gonna learn today? Oh, could you show me some badger moves? One of those wouldn't stand a chance against me! We haven't gone over those yet in training; I think Slateface wants to wait until I'm more experienced, but I wanna see the look when I show him that I can do it perfectly already!" he gleemed, swatting the air a couple times with sheathed paws before suddenly lunging towards Rosespark's tail tip, only half determined and focused on truly tapping it. His mind was busy imagining his mentor's gaping maw. The boy added with a giggle, "I bet he'll believe hedgehogs fly before believing he saw me right!"

[GnawingOnIce]

Meteorpaw spotted Finchpaw emerge from the fog around the clearing.
Her seeing him excited for this hurt her heart.
Finchpaw started rapidly asking questions and saying things, that usually would've made her laugh or smile if they weren't here.
She got up and trotted over to the other side of the clearing, facing Rosespark and Finchpaw.
"Well? Are we going to get started or not? I've been waiting for this all day now!"
She intentionally hinted at her actions in the last sentence.
She forced a grin, crouching like she was going to pounce, when really she was trying to show excitement.

[Mama]

Rosespark, after a moment, gave a chuckle and a nod. “Of course, we can! Mentors are very foolish to have not taught you this... or really anything useful at all besides the basics. That’s why I’m here, you help you both become great warriors!” The last part was true... but also for her own part as minions.

Flickering her tail out of the way as she put on her usual training face, or just her normal face, she glanced towards the two apprentices once again. “First things first, both of you crouch down and face each other. Finchpaw, you attack, Meteorpaw defends.” She quickly instructed, before giving a grin. “I want you to barrel towards her, and no matter what, getunder her. Then fling her up onto your back and throw her off. Dangerous, but effective in both stunning and giving you the chance to kill.”

[GnawingOnIce]

When Rosespark started explaining what Finchpaw was going to do, a small lump formed in Meteorpaw's throat and her heart sped up a bit.
Meteorpaw highly doubted that Finchpaw would ever need to kill anyone, you're not really supposed to kill in battles, anyway.
Finch was too sweet for that.
Her tail moved back and forth slowly, her gaze hardening and claws unsheathing.
She knew she wasn't attacking, she could still brace herself.
She was defending, anyway.

[Dofferz!]

Finchpaw waved his tail again in excitement. Starclan, he was so glad that Rosespark was willing to teach him things he didn't know instead of focusing on hunting or something. He understood that feeding the clan was important during leafbare, especially with the sickness spreading through not just Mistclan. Finchpaw even enjoyed hunting as much as he did battle training, but it was nice to mix things up every now and again.

Meteorpaw's 'enthusiasm' to start made his chest puff up in pride. He was happy he also helped Meteorpaw make a friend. It was nice to have the older apprentice training by his side.

Finchpaw nodded as he listened to Rosespark's instructions, turning and crouching down in preparation to pounce. He quickly brushed off the killing part because he knew that killing was against the Warrior Code. He knew that Rosespark was merely expressing the different options that a warrior could take.. not like she expected him to take them. She was just making sure Meteorpaw was prepared should another, bad warrior attack her.

He hesitated, assessing the situation before suddenly lunging forwards. Being able to successfully pull off the difficult move now would be even harder that Meteorpaw knew what to expect, much unlike an actual opponent in combat. If he could master this while she was prepared to evade, he would most certainly be well on the way to the greatest apprentice that Mistclan had ever seen!

However, as he attempted to execute the maneuver, the bicolour's balance shifted wrong which would untimely allow him to fall victim to his training partner's offensive. "oopf..!"

[Mama]

Sweetoak gave a grumble at his tumbling, her tail flickering. "You moved too slow to give her time to think about it, and you forgot how to use your paws." She pointed out, before turning her eyes towards Meteorpaw. "I want you to try and pin him down, no matter what it takes. No need to not use your claws, its good for extra practice anyways." The queen mewed, before glaring at the two apprentices while she waited. Either she would listen and be obedient, or refuse. Then, it might turn a bit sour, as Sweetoak hated when the little rats didn't follow her instructions. If she told them something, they needed to do it, even if it shredded a bit of fur and blood. It would make them tougher, and prepare them for the future... for her future.

[GnawingOnIce]

Meteorpaw hopped backward a bit as Finchpaw missed and fell down in front of her.
She started to opened her mouth to ask him if he was okay, but was interrupted by Rosespark criticizing him.
Then, the she-cat turned to her and gave her instructions to try and pin Finchpaw down, no matter what it took and she seemed to encourage Meteorpaw to use her claws.
Rosespark glared at both of them, clearly growing impatient.
She wasn't waiting for Finch to get up, so Meteor crouched down and pounced onto Finch, claws sheathed.
She put one of her front paws on his shoulder, the only one she could get to right now.
This was easy to do since he hadn't gotten up yet, but surely he'd try and get away.
She was waiting for Rosespark to get Finchpaw to go and do something else so Meteorpaw could go along with her plan, if this was going to go according to plan.