Battle Island

Starynight jumped from stone to stone to land on the Island where the white she-cat saw her new apprentice. "Hello" She mewed to him "How are You?"

Starynight looked at the black tom infrount of her and thought that not that long ago she was meeting her mentor. "I'm fine thank you and today I'll teach you some fighting moves." the she-cat added "How dose that sound?" she asked.

"This is it," he said, when they finally reached the edge of the water. "You'll need to cross these stepping stones. Here, I'll show you first, then you go before me so I can watch."

Briarfrost felt nostalgic as he leaped the stepping-stones to Battle Island, remembering the first time he and Tidalpaw had been here. So much had changed since then; so much had happened. Tidalpaw, once hyperactive and excitable, had grown into an apprentice he was truly proud of. And Briarfrost himself had finally lost his self-doubt, teaching the youngster now with a calm, happy confidence. Briarfrost was mentor, but he had learned from his apprentice too.

"Now I'll come back, and you try. Don't worry," he added as he landed back on the ground, a playful spark coming into his eyes. "If you fall over, you know how to swim, don't you?"

He had felt it was right, somehow, to have a last training session here the same way they'd had their first. He had already recommended that Tidalpaw be given his warrior name; he knew the ceremony couldn't be far off. I'll miss this, he thought, half in sadness and half in pride as he turned to watch Tidalpaw crossing after him. Once again, a playful spark came into his eyes, but this time it was mixed with respect. "Try not to fall in," he meowed, knowing it was unlikely anyway. "This leafbare has been horrible. The water will be freezing."

Tidalpaw felt none of his mentor's nostalgia. His face showed his excitement, clearly, he was thinking ahead to the future, wondering about his warrior name, perhaps, or the move into the warrior's den. He remembered poking his head in as a kit, sisters crowding behind him, he remembered laughing with his siblings and being told off by their mother.

The cat that took to the stepping stones and hurtled across had the same confidence the half-grown furball possessed, six moons ago now. He missed no step until the end, gaining upon Briarfrost with his determined speed, a challenging grin reaching up to his bright blue eyes.

He leaped outward, toward the water - except he landed on a solid slab of ice, poised there for a beat, then threw himself back onto the pathway of stones to overtake his mentor and fly the last few paces to shore.

He landed and swung, pivoting so fast he lifted off his forepaws, thumping back down in a crouch, tail up, all play, in some ways no more grown-up than the six-moon old newly named Tidalpaw.

"Better pick up the pace, old boy, you don't wanna get left behind." He teased, eyes bright and expectant.

The russet warrior's chin lifted almost imperceptibly in pride as he watched his apprentice clear the stepping-stones with the same overflowing confidence he'd always had, ending with the same challenging grin. He laughed. "You haven't changed that much, I guess," he purred.

He tensed in surprise when Tidalpaw deliberately leaped off his stone, and then realized belatedly that the water's surface was frozen over completely; thick enough to support Tidalpaw's weight, which was significantly more than what it had been a few moons ago. By the time he leaped forward again, Tidalpaw was already ahead.

"Who're you calling old boy?" he said indignantly, springing off the last stepping-stone and grinning at Tidalpaw's playful stance. Keeping his claws carefully sheathed, he leaped high toward the blue-pointed body – and over it, landing behind Tidalpaw and attempting to pin down his body as quickly as possible before he could turn. A noise between a growl and a purr was escaping his throat; he realized again that he was now as comfortable around Tidalpaw as he was around his closest denmates.

Thew answering growl was meant to be deep and intimidating as Tidalpaw made an impressive sideways leap to avoid his mentor, but as he was trying not to laugh, having been expecting the attack, it probably didn't come out that way. Blue limbs flashed as the long-legged tom engaged Briarfrost again, encouraging the tussle he knew his words would inspire. Tidalpaw was capable of taking many things seriously - in service for his clan he had already proved this, in using his head and going for help in a previous battle, in patrolling outside the borders in search of a missing kit, and also as acting messenger and learning the lie of Windclan and Thunderclan as he delivered war plans.

But this, though it was training and the most serious of tasks to many, was not something Tidalpaw saw as a challenging task. This was what he was born to do, hunt, stalk, pounce, patrol, fight. He fell into these natural patterns, at home in every corner of Snowclan lands. With Briarfrost he was more himself than any cat bar his family got to see.

And being himself meant finding the fun in everything for Tidalpaw. "What's the matter, hearing failing in your old age?" He challenged, grinned, and pranced about on his hindpaws while trying to grab at Briarfrost's ears.

Briarfrost couldn't help finding Tidalpaw's half-ferocious growl funny, and his own growl was stopped halfway, replaced by a rumble-purr sort of sound that probably sounded even sillier. He found his not-so-surprise attack thwarted and grunted, swatting around with his forepaws, ducking and dodging Tidalpaw's playful blows. With his claws still sheathed, he gave his apprentice a bat right on the nose, not quite hard enough to hurt. He giggled, feeling three moons old again.

"When hedgehogs fly!" he scoffed, circling around and trying to find an opportunity for a second lunge. Then he decided to try a different tactic. Let's see how well I've taught you. He crouched in front of Tidalpaw, trying to mirror the younger cat's every move, keeping him directly in front of his nose. "Come and get me!" he teased. He was well aware of how thoroughly unprofessional this training session was becoming; but then, every day he felt more like Tidalpaw didn't need him any more.

It was bittersweet, but it felt more sweet than bitter.

Tidalpaw almost went crosseyed in an effort to track Briarfrost's paw as it bopped him right on the nose. He dropped down onto all fours, shaking his head and huffing visible breaths into the cold air with indignation. Once his vision cleared he pivoted, weight all on his back end, keeping his mentor in sight. At the taunt he grinned, wide and jaunty, and he whipped his tail through the air challengingly. "Well, only since you insist!" He grinned.

He sprang, making it look big and powerful like he was trying to land on Briarfrost's shoulders. Slyly instead he twisted midair, another lash of his blue tail. He landed side-on, ready with his shoulder to barge into Briarfrost's and sweeping his right forepaw in a wide arc in the hopes he'd sweep the older tom off his paws.

((OOC| Aww, more sweet than bitter!))

Briarfrost struggled not to dissolve into a fit of giggles when he saw Tidalpaw nearly going crosseyed. I am a warrior, he told himself, not a kit, but that just made it worse. But he didn't need to wait very long before Tidalpaw gave him something else to think about. Briarfrost's eyes widened as he tried to predict what Tidalpaw was going to do.

He's going to... land on my shoulders. Briarfrost immediately ducked and scrambled backwards, ready to pounce on Tidalpaw once he landed... but then he didn't land where he was supposed to. Mousedung! I should be used to his trickery by now! he thought indignantly as this hit him.

Thinking fast, he only had time to brace himself and dig in his claws as Tidalpaw barged into him. He recovered just as Tidalpaw tried to sweep him off his feet, but because he was unbalanced, his subsequent leap was not as well-aimed as it was well-timed. He managed to pin Tidalpaw down by his shoulders, but his hind legs were scrabbling and he hadn't landed with strength. "Got you!" he huffed, still writhing around clumsily (but rather heavily) on top of his apprentice.

((Teehee!))

Tidalpaw had dropped into a crouch after sweeping at Briarfrost's legs, knowing he had to keep the mock attacks coming - fighting was what his mentor was renowned for. Before he'd had a chance to explode up he'd missed the single valuable beat he needed and then he felt Briarfrost's hefty weight pressing down from above.

"Is that what you..." He paused to wheeze slightly for air, fighting to gulp a large mouthful as he was crushed from above. Briarfrost must be sneaking rocks instead of freshkill, he decided, because he weighed as much as a small boulder. Knowing he had one chance before he was completely pinned, he kept his breath, struck each paw firmly into the snow, and braced his shoulder against Briarfrost's chest. "...Think!" He finished, letting out the breath and exploding up with every muscle in his long legs, attempting to throw him off his back.

Briarfrost was still trying to regain balance and control on top of Tidalpaw, so there was no time to feel smug over his small triumph. He had to make full use of his advantage. Focus... He had almost managed to properly pin Tidalpaw, but then felt his apprentice tense underneath him, felt the muscles in his haunches tense in preparation for weight. Uh-oh.

He couldn't pin Tidalpaw fast enough and he knew it. He had time to register this much. And then he was thrown backwards as the younger tom reared explosively up. Briarfrost landed with a loud OOF on the sandy ground. Even lying there, dazed, he managed to think smugly: A fighter mentor will raise a fighter apprentice.

A second later, he got to his feet as quickly as possible. He was half on autopilot now, going by instinct as well as brain. He knew Tidalpaw would have just landed back on his forefeet. He needed that infinitesimally small window of time when his opponent was still half-unbalanced, or he would completely lose his advantage. He instantly charged into Tidalpaw, not bothering to check what Tidalpaw was actually doing. There was no time.

Just bowl him over. Let's hope he's still disoriented.

And if he isn't? said a wry, amused voice at the back of his mind that he registered as Lynxfire's.

Then I'm freshkill! Briarfrost's inner voice meowed back, and even now it was filled with glee.

With his tail already high for balance and his paws ready, Tidalpaw felt the shock of the landing - he'd put a lot of muscle behind the leap but he hadn't gone all that high, he'd needed it instead to have any chance of throwing his far heavier mentor.

The instant he landed he swathe blur moving right towards him. He threw himself sideways, feeling fur brush his shoulder it was that close. Then he swung around and uttered a roar of laughter at the image of his mentor charging right past him. Mirth made his eyes water, but aside from his humourous mood he was feleing...

Ready. He could hold his own now against Briarfrost, a cat who's fighting skills he deeply respected. He wasn't a kit anymore, well, he wasn't completely a kit anymore. He thought he'd hang on to a few of his kitlike qualities for ll his seasons, but this... this almost felt like being grown-up.

OOC: Hi, Icefeather. Welcome to the site. If you want to post for an apprentice, go to the Roleplay Assistance and Requests board -> Need a Mentor/Apprentice subboard, and post your need-an-apprentice thread there.

MODIFY: Don't respond to this in this thread. If you need any further help, PM me.

Icefeather, you MAY NOT roleplay the same cat in more than one thread. We have a huge sign in the bio room stating this.

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