Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
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Post by Shadowstartheleader on Apr 19, 2021 11:40:06 GMT -5
There was a flicker of gratitude in her gaze as Petalfur faded from view, leaving Brightfrost alone before it all faded away, and her consciousness snapped back into the real world.
---
Autumneyes spent some time walking the territory, still as far from WindClan's border as possible, clearing her head and trying to think of various ways she could try to instill some humility in Brightfrost. The truth was, it wasn't a job she was meant to do, or knew how to do, but she was really the only one who could do it. Was Brightfrost going to listen, truly listen, to Stoneheart, or to Specklestar?
But then at the same time, she was already worried that Brightfrost was going to start shutting her out as well if she felt the medicine cat was being too critical. It was a situation that was throwing her between a rock and the dirtplace and she was scared she was going to end up miserable either way. Either Brightfrost shut her out, or she leapt too eagerly into a battle she couldn't win. Why did it feel like there was no good option, like she wasn't going to listen?
Strangely enough, she tried playing Stoneheart's words, of all cats, to try to assure herself that this wasn't doomed the way she felt it was. She also reminded herself that dogs were terrifying and a whole pack of them was something very new and a solution to this wasn't one that came easy...or without...sacrifices.
When she returned in the middle of the night, the guard was understandably upset with her, but a dull apology and a half-lie that she just needed to not be stuffed in the camp gave the sense that she didn't have the spirit to be lectured by the guard, and he let her be at last.
When she entered in the den, she checked to see that the cats were asleep, her gaze lingering on Brightfrost with a soft whine of worry, before eventually turning to her nest, and settling in to at least get a little sleep.
---
Autumneyes was nowhere near the first to wake up, exhausted from her lengthy walk, irresponsably keeping her awake into the mid hours of the darkness. It was Creekpaw who was the first to enter the medicine cat's den, having woke up her sibling and dragging him along with her to see if Brightfrost and Jasminefur were ready for the training...at the crack of dawn.
When they arrived, both cats were asleep and Creekpaw couldn't help but creep closer to inspect Jasminefur with bright, wide eyes that showed no sign of being tired. It was a little surprising to find that the two cats were wrapped up together, and Creekpaw struggled to imagine sleeping with the scent of WindClan entering her lungs all night.
As she creeped closer, she didn't see where she was going and found Brightfrost's tail under her paw, and she jumped back with a squeak of alarm after carelessly stepping on it, blowing their expert, sneaky cover.
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Post by berryjuice on Apr 21, 2021 6:54:59 GMT -5
Brightfrost woke violently from her tail being stepped on. She jumped up and hissed, still very on edge from her intense dream. Her eyes were wild for a few heartbeats as her gaze settled on the two apprentices that had gotten into the den. Honeypaw squeaked in fear and shrunk back.
She quickly calmed down and began grooming herself, licking down the fur that had stood up on end. She tried to act like she had simply been startled by having her tail step on by a rude young cat- rather than having been ready to fight off the endless enemies in her dreams. “You know, I would have liked to sleep a little longer. There’s barely any light.”
“...sorry…” said Honeypaw softly, though Brightfrost wasn’t sure if she really was. She remembered how it was when she got into trouble as an apprentice- sorry she got caught, but not really sorry she did it. She looked to her sister. “But we’ve been waiting forever and we’re ready to learn how to fight dogs.”
She thought about her dream. She wasn’t sure any of them could be equipped to handle that pack of dogs only through training, but they needed to work on it anyway. She smiled, trying to seem bright and confident. “Okay, okay. But you’ll need to wake Stoneheart first.”
Honeypaw looked towards the warriors' den nervously. “Really?”
Brightfrost chuckled and shook her head. “I’m sure she’ll be awake soon if she isn’t already. Robinpatch too- he’ll probably want to watch you two train. Why don’t you go wait in the training hollow?” She figured Autumneyes might want to take a moment to look Jasminefur over- she hoped the medicine cat wouldn't object to her patient taking part in the training.
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
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Post by Shadowstartheleader on Apr 22, 2021 18:15:06 GMT -5
Creekpaw reacted equally to her sister, shrinking back and preparing to bolt if Brightfrost intended to response with aggression from being awoken. She was about to signal to her sister with a quick tail to the pelt that it was time to run, but Brightfrost had shifted from hissing at them, to licking at her pelt, leaving Creekpaw to breathe in relief as she didn't bite Creekpaw's ears off.
"I'm sorry," It was a quiet mew alongside her sister, but Creekpaw didn't try to speak over Honeypaw as she still worried about Brightfrost becoming angry. Her wide-eyed gazed wouldn't leave the warrior, but after her sister voiced their eagerness to learn, her head bobbed up and down eagerly to support her sibling's reasoning.
Creekpaw froze at the thought of waking up the stone-cold, stiff and unforgiving warrior. It instantly made her less eager to get to the training, given the prospect of awakening the cold warrior. Yet Brightfrost didn't seemed at all affected by mentioning Stoneheart, and Creekpaw had to assume that the warrior was simply unafraid of Stoneheart, an amazing quality.
Creekpaw nervously took a few steps back as the warrior suggested they go wait for their trainers in the training hollow--on the one paw, they weren't supposed to leave on their own, and on the other paw she didn't want to have to wake up Stoneheart, even if Brightfrost assured them that their wouldn't be problems.
"Uggghhh...." The heavy groan sounded from the ground near Brightfrost, and the slight shifting of Jasminefur as he tried to bury his ears under his paws hinted at his half-conscious annoyance that he was being awoken. He unconsciously rolled closer to the cat who had stood up and left him to the cold, searching for warmth that he wasn't finding in his utter disinterest in waking up. Creekpaw froze and stared, wide-eyed, at the WindClan tom as he obviously reacted to the disturbance made by her.
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Post by berryjuice on Apr 23, 2021 7:27:04 GMT -5
Honeypaw’s eyes widened as she watched Jasminefur stir. She was at a loss for words for a moment, but only for a moment. The longer Jasminefur was here, the less intimidating he seemed to her. She looked to him, quickly abuzz with curiosity now that she was closer to the WindClan cat. “How did you sleep? Did StarClan send you dreams, like a medicine cat? Are you allowed to share a den with a ThunderClan cat? Is it true that they don't have dens in WindClan?” She bounced on her paws, accidentally nudging the herb store and threatening to send some valuable leaves to the ground. “Oh- we’re ready to start training! We didn't want to wait any longer. What are you going to teach us first? We’re going to be really good at fighting."
Brightfrost winced as the excited apprentices threatened to disrupt the herb stores that Autumneyes had just taken pains to restock; she needed to get them out of here before they caused too much trouble. She supposed that the apprentices’ enthusiasm was a good thing, and she still thought it could be beneficial to them that these two seemed to hate Jasminefur less than most of the other cats here- they could use that. And they needed every pay they could get to help them defend against the dogs. She felt tense as she thought about the two young apprentices having to face those monsters, and being thrown aside as easy as WindClan’s were. The difference is that ThunderClan will be prepared.
She finished grooming herself- it always seemed to take a while with all her fur and her apparent vanity- and moved towards the entrance of the den. “Let’s get going." She walked out, Honeypaw quickly following her. Brightfrost made sure that Jasminefur was following as well, since she hadn’t really gotten to show him where the training hollow was.
They moved through the sleeping camp and soon entered the hollow. As Brightfrost had guessed, Stoneheart was already awake. More surprisingly, Goldenspots was as well. He was speaking to Stoneheart and she appeared tense, but whatever conversation they were having ended abruptly when they heard pawsteps. Stoneheart turned and looked sternly to the two apprentices; Honeypaw squealed and skidded to a stop when she saw the intimidating older warrior, very nearly crashing into her.
Honeypaw sat up quickly, immediately trying to act disciplined and composed. “Um- uh- sorry…”
Stoneheart stood over the two apprentices and glared at them with cold authority. “I hope you don’t intend to approach the dogs so recklessly.”
Goldenspots chuckled. “Can you really blame them for their enthusiasm?” He looked to Stoneheart, then to Brightfrost and Jasminefur with a glint in his green eyes. “I, too, can’t wait to hear what wisdom our resident dog-slayers have for us.”
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
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Post by Shadowstartheleader on Apr 26, 2021 11:21:14 GMT -5
Jasminefur appeared visibly sour as his head lifted from his paws and he was met first thing by a torrent of curious ThunderClan questions, jarring him from a nightmare to a waking dizziness. The cold gaze of his mother remained plastered in his mind, as he spent most of the night reliving the attack and awakening constantly to find it was dark and he was alone. He wasn't sure which was better.
If he hadn't been so annoyed being woken up so rudely after such a poor sleep, he might have reflected on how after every reoccurrence of the nightmare he found himself less distant from the ThunderClan warrior, searching for some sort of comfort, but his initial mood was too grumpy for any such thoughts.
"Oh, and do you actually know how to dig tunnels? I heard that in a story. And have you ever talked to a rabbit? And what about--ooh, yeah, do you even have dens?!" Creekpaw was speaking almost in unison with her sister, too eager to ask her questions to let her sister speak over her, and yet--but she needed to hear the answer to her sister's last question so badly that she cut herself off.
It didn't seem like Jasminefur was in the right state of mind for this at all--rather than seeming overwhelmed and uncertain of what to say like before, he merely grunted with an unhappy glance at the two apprentices, before he slowly lifted himself from the nest under him and gave a weak stretch in front of the apprentices, yawning immensely in the process. He mumbled quietly after finishing his stretch, saying "Please, at least let me wake up for a moment," a trace of irritation in his voice.
He was about to ask if they should eat before they headed out, but Brightfrost spoke up and stopped him before he even began talking. He had to bite back a second sigh, this one from exasperation, as he thought of training without fuel in him. But, as he felt his stomach, he realized he wasn't truly hungry, and he pushed the complaint to the back of his mind and fell in line behind Brightfrost.
"Oh....sorry," Creekpaw had murmured quietly, casting a glance at her sister that screamed for answers. She needed to know everything about WindClan! She knew her sister felt the same way, and as much as she wanted to keep pushing the WindClan cat for answers, he seemed different this morning in comparison with yesterday. Creekpaw glanced back towards him, starting to wonder if he just...didn't want to talk about WindClan.
Now, she was quietly murmuring to her sister as they were bounding for the training hollow, wondering if Jasminefur was ever going to give them answers. "He looked like he was going to bite me," She half-joked when they were out of earshot of the two warriors given the lead they had taken over the warriors.
Creekpaw picked up the pace a little when Honeypaw rushed for the clearing, but partway to the two senior warriors she glanced back saw Jasminefur lagging behind, and it didn't seem that Brightfrost would pull that far ahead of him either. When she heard the squeal of her sister she turned back to the other cats, alert, and had to suppress a laugh as her sister was scolded by the meanest mentor in ThunderClan.
Jasminefur pulled into the clearing last, just coming into earshot as Goldenspots commented on the apprentices eagerness, and the "dog-slayers" wisdom. With a tired, bitter thought, Jasminefur wondered if Goldenspots was so blind that he didn't realize his snide comment could refer to Stoneheart as well.
He almost spoke up to respond, wanting to mention that he had likely seen more dogs than the other warrior had in his life, which might have been a surprising comment coming from him; but he thought of Brightfrost irritatedly shoving her tail over his mouth the previous day and deigned to look at her and not mention it.
He wanted to growl with frustration as he tried to think of genuinely useful advice when it came to the dogs--if he had slept better and had had more time to think this through, he was certain that he could have offered some tips right away; but as it was he was staring semi-blankly at Brightfrost. Within the half-blankness though was a bit of frustration, like he was running through his mind. The truth was, thinking about the attack had seemed terrifying and worth avoiding at any cost since it happened, but the truth was it was constantly in the back of his mind, especially his mother--and after the night of sleep he had got, thinking back through it one more time to try to find advice didn't seem as difficult.
"Do dogs have a really special weak spot?" Creekpaw piped up, looking at Stoneheart and then back at Brightfrost and Jasminefur.
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Post by berryjuice on Apr 29, 2021 6:28:07 GMT -5
“WindClan cats really are mean,” Honeypaw whispered back at her sister as they walked to the hollow. Still, her curiosity was still intense and she didn’t let her confidence waver. She was a bit unnerved by Jasminefur’s attitude, but at the same time being surrounded by her Clanmates let her feel a safety that wouldn’t be present if she were dealing with a WindClan cat alone. “We’ll get him to tell us eventually.”
---
Goldenspots’ snide comment seemed primarily directed at Stoneheart, but she ignored it. The contempt between the two that Brightfrost had mentioned was clear.
Stoneheart kept her focus on the two apprentices. “Dogs have a number of weaknesses. They are easily outsmarted. Due to their strength, relying on your wit is important.”
Brightfrost was inclined to agree. She thought dogs didn’t have the ability to strategize the way that the Clan cats did. And yet...maybe they couldn’t depend on that. She thought back to the strange cat in her dreams. Sure, dogs may not have the same intelligence as a cat. But if they had a cat as their leader- who knew what they were capable of?
Stoneheart continued, “They primarily use bites to attack; you will be safest if you maneuver away from their head.”
Brightfrost’s mind was still on her dream. She tried to think of every advantage ThunderClan might have that WindClan had lacked. She thought about Quickbird getting Fernkit to safety. “I think they’re bad at climbing,” said Brightfrost. “So if you need to run away, you could find a tree.”
Stoneheart nodded. “Retreat if necessary. These creatures are strong and unrelenting; do not underestimate them. They will not hesitate to kill you as soon as you make a mistake.”
Honeypaw kneaded the ground with wide eyes, doing her best not to look as nervous as she felt. Fighting dogs was starting to seem less fun- but at the same time, being a warrior was all about being courageous against fearsome enemies, right?
“Shouldn’t we focus on how to take on an entire pack? Next time it may not be as easy as three cats against one dog,” said Goldenspots. He looked to Jasminefur. “Our guest must have some ideas.”
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
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Post by Shadowstartheleader on Apr 29, 2021 19:44:27 GMT -5
Jasminefur followed what Stoneheart and Brightfrost were recommending, gently nodding along in agreement to the two of them as they offered different pieces of wisdom. At the same time as he listened, he was trying to think of his own pieces of advice, particularly thinking back to the battle he had been a part of, to see if he could discern any wisdom.
It was a hopeless endeavor, considering how focused he was on how he had abandoned his mother to die and fled from the clan that needed his help. If he was going to conjure any advice, it wouldn't be from probing that attack.
Jasminefur had accepted that Stoneheart and Brightfrost had this under control, but Goldenspots managed to bring the subject back around to him--the 'guest' glanced around at the five other cats gathered around, him noticing that Creekpaw and the other cats seemed to be turning their attention towards him as Goldenspots effectively put the spotlight on him. Jasminefur looked to Brightfrost, but this time he wasn't pleading for help, knowing that Goldenspots had put him in a spot that he couldn't beg his way out of.
His gaze began shifting awkwardly between Creekpaw and Honeypaw. "W-well..." He started with an awkward clearing of his throat. Pretending like he knew anything about teaching such young cats was a short-lived farse. "If you were in WindClan, you could use your superior speed to outrun them," He quietly murmured in something of a passive aggressive snap back at Goldenspats. "But as it is, I think Brightfrost is right. If you don't think you can win, climb a tree," He quietly repeated the advice that Brightfrost had given them, casting a quick glance back to her as he was speaking to the apprentices.
Glancing back to the apprentices, he wondered why only two of the apprentices were attending this session. He thought that more of them would have needed to learn about the dogs, but a nagging part of him wondered if some of the ThunderClan warriors hadn't been willing to send their apprentices to a training with a WindClan warrior present.
He slowly drew in a deep breath, trying not to think too deeply about the clan's spite for him, or the particular situation that was fueling his next piece of advice. "If dogs can go for your neck, it is the first thing they will bite. If you have ran as much as your can, get your paw, or anything else in the way." He stared down at the two apprentices, uncertain if his advice was effective. But he began to feel its impact when Creekpaw's eyes widened and she pulled slightly away from the WindClan warrior. His gaze fixed on Creekpaw, and he felt his heart skip a beat as he saw the fear in the apprentices' eyes. His earlier annoyance was completely and utterly dissipated. "Do not let them touch your neck," He emphasized with a note of grave seriousness, borne from his personal experience, that Jasminefur's voice had never once held before. His gaze turned to Honeypaw, and any sense of passive aggressiveness towards Goldenspats didn't exist anymore as he realized how seriously Creekpaw was taking this. "If you can't do that, you climb a tree. And if you can't do that, you run."
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🐝Draconic🐝
Friendship Rank 1
Obsession over pokemon and slightly active after a year
Posts: 47
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Post by 🐝Draconic🐝 on May 5, 2021 15:13:23 GMT -5
P.S, do you read Wings of Fire, because if you don't, based on your intrests, i highly recomend it Wings of fire is one of my favorite series
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Post by berryjuice on May 6, 2021 7:19:05 GMT -5
Brightfrost watched Jasminefur encouragingly. She was sure that this was good for him- for them. If he could show that he had something to offer, then that would make things a lot easier. They needed to confirm to everyone that he did have reason to be in ThunderClan camp. She watched the reactions of the other cats present. Goldenspots appeared to actually be listening attentively; Stoneheart was quiet and unimpressed. Honeypaw’s eyes shone as she considered the ways in which she might show off these tactics.
Robinpatch walked into the hollow, leading a few warriors and apprentices. He and Specklestar had arranged to send cats to training in waves, so that they would make sure that there were always some warriors in camp and the patrols would still go out.
“I see you’ve already begun,” Robinpatch said with some annoyance as he looked at the gathered cats.
Goldenspots bowed his head respectfully. “My apologies; me and these apprentices were over eager to see what we would be taught,” he said evenly. “This situation’s making us all antsy.”
Honeypaw nodded. “We wanted to train as much as possible so we'll be ready!”
Robinpatch looked to Creekpaw and Honeypaw, stern but proud. “Of course- I understand not wanting to waste any time."
“Jasminefur was just giving us some useful advice,” said Goldenspots. He looked to Stoneheart. “And I assume we were about to begin practice?”
Stoneheart didn’t respond to him, but began breaking up the cats into sparring pairs. She put stronger cats with weaker ones; Brightfrost assumed this was to simulate the power imbalance they would face in a fight against a dog. Stoneheart didn’t say anything to Jasminefur, so it was unclear whether she expected him to participate.
Brightfrost noticed that there was growing tension around Jasminefur’s presence and suspicious muttering among the newly-arrived cats. She tried to distract them by walking around the training hollow and going over what they had been discussing previously, repeating Jasminefur’s advice about protecting the neck. For a moment she felt like a ThunderClan cat- focused on helping her Clanmates to be prepared as possible. But her mind kept returning to the dream. She wondered what else she should be preparing for.
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
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Post by Shadowstartheleader on May 24, 2021 0:15:05 GMT -5
Jasminefur couldn't help but glacne at Brightfrost for some kind of sign that what he said would go over well with the ThunderClan cats--he wasn't sure if he needed to keep speaking, but he didn't know how much more he could say. Any more advice would have to be based on being in ThunderClan territory, and he wasn't quite the expert in that department.
He was saved by the arrival of more cats as Robinpatch arrived with plenty more in tow. Jasminefur dipped his head respectfully and tried not to focus too much on how many cats were with the senior cat; their numbers easily doubled, and he hoped he wasn't going to have to keep speaking and offering advice to so many new cats, especially when so many of them he hadn't even met yet.
He kept his mouth shut as the ThunderClan cats expressed their...eagerness to begin, leaving the WindClan cat wondering if it was more of an eagerness to see how much of a fool he could make of himself. Well, no one seemed particularly offput by what I said. I guess it isn't exactly a riddle to figure out a dog. He thought to himself, before he gave a quiet sigh. No, they're just their own type of monster.
Creekpaw was watching Jasminefur eagerly, hoping that she would get the chance to interrogate him more as Brightfrost began pairing cats off. Her face fell though, as Jasminefur tiptoed around the rest of the ThunderClan cats to follow silently behind Brightfrost until she had paired off the cats in the training hollow.
Jasminefur had tried to make his approach look natural, but it was clear he was very uncomfortable and didn't want to be paired off with any of these near-strangers, most of which probably wouldn't mind if he got hurt in this 'training session.' Staying close to her, he opened his mouth and quietly voiced his doubts to her. "It's pretty hard to practice this. We saw it fighting that dog--they don't stop, they don't flinch like we do after we take a hard strike. They just keep pushing you." He probably should have said that while offering advice, but would it help them fight more cautiously or would it just scare them, especially the apprentices? He scanned over them, not daring the chance to make eye contact with any of the warriors as he thought about how much the younger cats were going to take away from this.
It wasn't like he was any sort of expert, anyways. But Brightfrost knew that--she was taking advantage of this opportunity to try to mold her clanmates' view of him, little by little. It wasn't lost on him that she was taking advantage of the situation for his benefit. His gaze turned back to her, and though worry was plastered over his face, it didn't reveal that he was trying to analyze her. She certaintly wanted general opinion of him to change--he was still left to wonder why. What do you get from all this?
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Post by berryjuice on May 28, 2021 7:39:33 GMT -5
Even when he was in the middle of a sparring match, Robinpatch watched Jasminefur closely. Brightfrost guessed that he was making sure that he was never within swiping distance of Creekpaw or Honeypaw. They were not his first litter, so he lacked the anxious protectiveness that new parents, like Quickbird and Fogfoot, might have. But he still obviously did not like the idea of the still-young apprentices training so close to a potential danger. He was briefly distracted as Mintbreeze strolled into the training hollow.
“Did you really think I was going to miss this just to lay in the sun and listen to Foxmask and Redstep’s yapping?” she said in response to his confused expression. “Someone will need to guard the elders’ den anyway, if those things come into camp.”
Robinpatch nodded. “I guess we all need to be ready- for any threats that might come.” He looked to Jasminefur.
Mintbreeze mumbled an agreement and looked to Jasminefur with a suspicious look similar to her mate’s. But thankfully, their attention moved off of him for a moment as they watched Creekpaw execute a battle move.
---
Stoneheart glared at Jasminefur when he dared to try and give some advice. “ThunderClan warriors don’t flinch.” There was a growl to her voice. Brightfrost rolled her eyes. She didn’t know if Stoneheart really had faith in ThunderClan as a perfect fighting force or if she was just saying that to make sure that Jasminefur knew how strong they were. Either way, she wished she would knock it off. It wasn’t like Jasminefur could or would do anything against ThunderClan.
However, despite Brightfrost’s initial dismissiveness, the words stuck in her head. Stoneheart had drilled the idea into her head since day one of her training. Never hesitate to strike, never let your guard down even for a second, and never take your eyes off your enemy.
Her gaze turned to Jasminefur and lingered there. She thought about what she had seen in her dream. Jasminefur had hesitated, and it had cost Petalfur her life. Maybe WindClan training was different. Could she rely on Jasminefur when she fought beside him? Surely she would find out sooner or later; she didn’t think it would be too long before they were facing the dogs again. StarClan had shown her that she was meant to trust Jasminefur. And yet...she couldn’t forget what she had seen.
She flicked her ears, feeling like she had bees in her brain. She couldn’t space out in front of her Clanmates, and she couldn’t waste time questioning StarClan’s orders. She smiled to Jasminefur and got into a fighting stance. She twitched her tail playfully, trying to convince both him and herself that things were fine between them. “Why don’t we spar? Show them how it’s done.”
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
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Post by Shadowstartheleader on Jun 2, 2021 8:16:46 GMT -5
"I can't imagine we're going to have that much issue with the dogs," a young she-cat mumbled grumpily, still irritated about having been awoken from her rest. Sandclaw hadn't even had time to groom down her nest-fur, and it showed. "They have smaller brains than a mouse." Her eyes scanned over the cats who had arrived before them, coming to a stop and fixing on Jasminefur as she saw him slinking over to and eventually coming to a stop beside Brightfrost.
Sandclaw hadn't expressed her thoughts to any cat, because she wasn't particularly fond of her clanmates reading into her. Nonetheless, she was still miffed that he was staying and eating the food they were catching, especially after how much he and his clan had done to ThunderClan. Now he came crawling to them for help? It was pathetic.
Creekpaw was doing her best to try to trip or unbalance the larger warrior she was paired with, but she was still small in comparison and was having a tough time doing normal maneauvers, let alone pretend this warrior was a bigger dog.
Jasminefur didn't realize for a moment how intensely Brightfrost was staring at him, but once he did he blinked over at her and his eyes widened a little, trying to figure out what the look was about--but then she seemed to finish whatever she was thinking about, and was back to normal. Then she smiled at him, leaving him unsure what to expect as she suddenly dropped into a fighting stance.
When she gave her tail a playful twitch, he took in a breath and blinked at her, a little surprised by the suggestion--though what was he expecting, staying away from every other cat like they were on fire? He had to spar with someone, and much better that it be Brightfrost than Paleheart, Robinpatch, or some other cat that wanted to see if he bled the same color as them.
"Well..." He looked down at her for a few moments, feeling a little uncertain about fighting with Brightfrost, even if it was for practice. It felt a little strange, as he was a guest and she was his particular savior in the clan. "I s'pose we could..." He took a couple steps back with a nervous chuckle, then dropped into a relatively average fighter's stance--unremarkable, but unrefined as a more experienced warrior's would be. He watched Brightfrost closely, preparing for the warrior to come at him--maybe he would get the chance to show her what speed was all about.
Suddenly, he found himself warming to the idea, and he seemed to relax just a little bit.
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Post by berryjuice on Jun 6, 2021 7:17:01 GMT -5
As Brightfrost looked upon Jasminefur, the sight was too familiar. She could barely count the times she had faced a WindClan cat in battle. She couldn’t remember if the enemy in her sights had ever been Jasminefur- there was never a reason to think of names in the midst of battle- but many had been similar to him. Scrawny cats that she needed to take down.
She felt eyes on them; she supposed that it wasn’t often that her Clanmates got to see a WindClan cat fight in a non-battle setting. She had to admit that the sight of a WindClan battle stance set her fur on edge; it took all her willpower to keep her claws sheathed. Knowing that their sparring would be judged by their Clanmates filled her with an urging to “win.” To test Jasminefur’s mettle and prove her own. But then she remembered the point of all this. Her and Jasminefur were working together to improve his reputation and help get her Clanmates ready for what might be a bloody battle in the near future. And she wasn’t fighting as herself; she was meant to act as a dog.
Once she thought Jasminefur was ready enough, Brightfrost lunged at him. She thought about the way that the dog had fought, replaying the earlier battle in her head. She also thought of the dream, though it was difficult to parse through the chaos of that memory. She aimed at Jasminefur’s neck, but didn’t really bite down; she couldn’t imagine how upset Autumneyes would be if Brightfrost injured her patient.
It was clear that she had quite a bit of practice in combat and that she had had it drilled into her that she needed to fight to win. In some ways, she fought similarly to a dog without even trying. She was unrelenting; she was not a cat who did anything halfway if she thought it was important. And it was hard not to let the heat of battle get to her, even if it wasn’t real- especially when she had so much pent up from her confrontations with her Clanmates and her violent dreams.
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Shadowstartheleader
Friendship Rank 4
~The world may be dark, we may be lost forever, but we stand a chance as long as we're together~
Posts: 617
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Post by Shadowstartheleader on Jun 8, 2021 16:11:11 GMT -5
It was more difficult for Jasminefur to recognize her posture with familiarity, mostly because of how little he had been permitted to battle. That being said, he certainly knew ThunderClan cats were strongly built, and just because they didn't run the moors, didn't mean they weren't fast cats as well. Knowing this was practice and nothing serious, he wasn't too worried about it, although he was starting to notice that the clearing around them was quieting, giving him a sign that the rest of the cats were beginning to pay special attention to the two of them.
He examined Brightfrost before she made a move for him, and he thought he noticed that she seemed to be gazing him down somewhat seriously. It set him just a little bit more on edge for a moment, as he had been considering this something of a practicing skirmish, but suddenly Brightfrost seemed to have a more...battle-like disposition. His gaze quickly turned downwards to her paws, but when he saw that her claws were still sheathed, he suppressed the bit of anxiety that was causing the fur on the back of his neck to spike upwards.
Just as his eyes lifted from their position Brightfrost launched forward with impressive speed, closing the distance between them in a matter of moments; but as soon as she started moving, Jasminefur launched into his own evasion, and by the time she closed the gap the WindClan cat had sped to the side in a rush of paws that were hard to track, and he rush along her side and tried swatting at her side, keeping his claws put away, to mimic a tear down her flank as he pulled close to a 180 degree turn and ended behind her, though he kept himself tense ready for another push from the ThunderClan warrior.
Creekpaw gasped as she completely lost interest in the warrior training her, seeing the Thuder-Wind training, and more importantly, just how impressively fast Jasminefur wrapped around the side of Brightfrost and ended up behind her. He didn't lack WindClan's fabled speed.
Sandclaw raised an eyebrow at Jasminefur, genuinely surprised in the effortlessness it seemed he had outmaneuvered Brightfrost. The tom-cat didn't look like much of anything at a glance, but perhaps he really could do something in a battle with his speed. Or, perhaps, it was a lucky evasion and he wasn't going to be able to keep such a thing up.
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Post by berryjuice on Jun 14, 2021 7:01:17 GMT -5
Brightfrost looked to Jasminefur as he moved to her side. At least he was fast- they would certainly need that when they were facing off against real dogs. As she sparred with him, she thought that he was a better fighter than most might assume. So maybe it really was just a lack of confidence that had led him to claiming that he was useless. She just needed to get him to see that he had skill that might save them someday. And...whatever happened, it was important that he not flinch.
“Grrrr…you won’t be so lucky next time!” Brightfrost playfully imitated a dog as she did another biting attack, still taking care not to injure Jasminefur. It was difficult not to go all out. But the excited chatter of nearby apprentices reminded her that this was just meant to be a sparring match. She moved to attack him a few times in quick succession, trying to focus on strength rather than dexterity, as she felt a dog would.
“This isn’t a game…” Stoneheart mumbled irritably under her breath.
Honeypaw shouted excitedly, “This is awesome! We can be the best if we learn battle moves from all the Clans!” She looked to Creekpaw for validation. “I want to be really fast too! Maybe we can learn!”
Robinpatch frowned, obviously annoyed that Honeypaw would speak like this in front of an enemy cat. “Hush. Focus on your own sparring!”
Honeypaw complained and looked back to her sparring partner, but she still paid much more attention to the more exciting ThunderClan-WindClan match that was happening right nearby. How could she resist, especially when she had grown up on epic tales of the Clans fighting each other?
Brightfrost felt her own energy rise as the match continued. Her mind was swirling with thoughts of the dream and Jasminefur’s abilities, and she felt fuelled by the attention from the nearby cats. Even if she claimed she only cared what StarClan thought, things easily felt more important with her Clanmates watching. She imitated a dog again- but this time, it was less playful. In the back of her mind, she could still hear the sounds that the strange cat had made around the dogs. The odd bark-mrrow that came out of her mouth was a shadow of that- a vague emulation of the unnatural call in her dream.
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