A. R.are *Spark* [open]

[{Otter}]

((anyone, everyone, join on over here ^.^))

It had happened. From the moment she'd awoken at sunrise, she'd known today was going to be one of those days. The weird days, when she wasn't herself. When she didn't even recognize herself. Did she like herself when she was like this? Later, not so much. But at the time? She loved it.

Energy could practically be seen building and mounting within the compact, short-legged body of the tawny-colored apprentice. Soft, smooth fur flecked with darker brown and gray stood completely on end, so that she appeared to be almost twice her size. Bright green eyes, normally so calm and mellow, flitted from one place to the other, completely alight with excitement and energy.

It was a hyper day. A squirrely day. She barely made it out of camp before she burst, springing straight into the air, fur fluffed out to its fullest. She hit the ground running, and the small apprentice raced away from ShadowClan camp and towards the Burnt Sycamore. Why here? She didn't know. After several fox-lengths Fawnpaw stopped, panted, regained her energy, and shot forward again--she was no long-distance runner, but she was too energized to worry about getting winded. Her short legs stretched out as she raced forward, the cold leafbare air burning in her lungs.

There it was! What a lovely tree. Too crumbled and dead to climb, but so? Fawnpaw skidded to a halt by the tree, where she stood panting and gasping for air. Bright green eyes flicked back and forth, until--a squirrel! Oh, a squirrel! She bounded forward without another thought, chasing the little thing up a nearby tree and clawing her way up after it. Of course she didn't catch it, but the chase was so exhilarating! She stopped on a low branch, jumped back down to the ground, and raced a loop around the dead tree. Another squirrel! She burst forward again, chasing the light gray creature until she had to stop for lack of energy. She sat, regained her breath, and caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye...Fawnpaw pounced, caught the leaf between her forepaws, and slapped it on the ground. She released a little mewl of pleasure, then jumped after another squirrel.

Boy is it good no one's here to see me, she thought happily, not bothering to scent the air to see if any clanmates were nearby. What would her Clanmates think of her, chasing after squirrels with no intention to catch them? Jumping at leaves and running up trees? ShadowClan didn't do that. Fawnpaw didn't do that. But...she couldn't help it. Not now. She let out a cheerful growl as she pounced at a little mole, which promptly scurried back into its hole as she drew near.

[Willow]

The sun shone bright overhead and birdsong filled there air. The evergreen forest of ShadowClan was teaming with life, small animals trying to find food before leaf-bare's chill settled in. A thick chill was in the air, but the bright sun held back any snow or frost and created an illusion of warmth. Soon, Willowstar knew, even that illusion would be gone. Soon, there would be nothing but cold. Dark days were coming as leaf-bare settled in. Sickness... fighting... A leaf-bare never passed in peace.

The darkness of her thoughts nearly blotted out the sun's rays as the lithe ShadowClan leader stalked through the forests of her territory. She held her head high and stepped deliberately across the hardened ground. There was no need for softness in the depths of her own territory. Willowstar's ears flicked as she picked up the sound of pawsteps nearby. Someone was running, and fast.

The she-cat narrowed her eyes and stalked forward, every muscle in her body tensed and alert. No cat would run that fast unless there was an emergency. But... they were headed away from the camp. Her ears stood tall, trying to catch the sound again. Could it be a cat from another Clan, running away from the sound of her footsteps?

Willowstar caught a cat scent on the air and began moving quickly towards it. Soon she could identify it as ShadowClan and suspicious turned to confusion. What was one of her warriors doing out here running away like that? She got her answer as she neared the burnt sycamore. The cat she saw there brought a meow of amusement to her lips and softened her troubled mind.

Fawnpaw. Though she was acting nothing like her normal, collected self. No, instead she was chasing prey simply for the fun of it. Willowstar smiled and stepped out of the shadows cast by the trees. "I hope you're not trying to catch anything," she said in a voice laced with humor. Other mentors might be upset with this recklessness, but Willowstar knew it was good to have fun at such a young age.

[{Otter}]

The mole had disappeared, but another squirrel had ventured forth from beneath the charred remains of the sycamore, and Fawnpaw turned her attention on him. She had just begun to pounce when she heard the familiar cool voice, tinged with a hit of humor.

"I hope you're not trying to catch anything."

Bright green eyes shot wide and she spun around, fur on end as the long-bodied form of her leader revealed herself. Eyes dropped at once, her gaze catching on Willowstar's creamy white forepaws. She didn't seem angry, from first glance. Her voice didn't sound annoyed or disapproving. But the tawny apprentice was still embarrassed. Of all the cats to catch her out here acting like a mousebrained fox hyped up on catnip, it had to be her leader. And not only her leader, but her mentor. Great....

Even so, Fawnpaw couldn't bring herself to feel too mortified. After a moment her eyes shot up again, and she titled her head to one side as she studied her leader. A flash of gray caught the corner of her eye and she twitched, but the young apprentice managed to reign in her excitement and stay put. Hyped up or not, she refused to be rude, even as electricity seemed to jolt from every hair on her body.

Normally, it wouldn't occur to her to say anything. But not now. "Of course not!" she mewed cheerfully, tawny tail waving happily. "I was just chasing them. I'm really excited right now, you see. Very very very excited. Um...can I go chase some more?"

[Willow]

Willowstar's eyes shimmered with warmth and amusement as she watched her apprentice lower her eyes to study the leader's paws. She was hardly surprised when Fawnpaw's eyes almost immediately shot back up to catch her own yellow ones. The leader relaxed her still-tense muscles and gave another laughing meow as Fawnpaw asked to chase more prey.

Willowstar settled herself into a sitting position and regarded Fawnpaw with mirth. "Why of course. So long as you don't scare everything in our territory into hiding," she replied with a small grin and turned her gaze to where the mole had disappeared moments earlier. In the dead of leaf-bare, this behavior may have been dangerous, but prey would still be plentiful for a little while longer. Fawnpaw wasn't hurting anything with her rambunctiousness.

A thought struck the leader. Fawnpaw was obviously full of energy today and she herself was doing nothing of worth today. "Hey Fawnpaw. When you're done chasing animals, want to practice some fighting techniques?" The apprentice obviously didn't have the focus currently for hunting, but Willowstar was certain she'd be quite excited to learn some fighting moves.

[{Otter}]

"Why of course. So long as you don't scare everything in our territory into hiding,"

The compact little apprentice sprang away immediately, leaping atop the charred remains of the sycamore as she scanned the area for more prey. A little bluebird fluttered out of nowhere, and she launched herself from her vantage point, paws outstretched. The bird fluttered away, of course, but that didn't keep Fawnpaw from bouncing up and down in an attempt to fly and catch it herself. And then she heard the next words.

"Hey Fawnpaw. When you're done chasing animals, want to practice some fighting techniques?"

Likely enough, this might not have excited Fawnpaw too much on a regular day. She wasn't one for fighting. She didn't like the idea of it. But now? She hit the ground running again and came to a skidding halt before her leader and mentor, eyes wide, chest heaving, tail lashing in eagerness. "Yes!" she mewed, more loudly than she'd ever speak normally. "I'm done! How about now?" It hurt, but she ignored the rustling of nearby underbrush and set her eyes on Willowstar. Surely learning how to fight would be much more entertaining than chasing squirrels.

[Willow]

The ShadowClan leader watched as her apprentice chased a bird, leaping at it even as it ascended into the blue sky. That kit-like enthusiasm had entirely melted her cold thoughts and brought something of joy to the leader's heart. To be so excited by little things in life was a rare gift, one Fawnpaw was not often graced by either.

Willowstar let out a soft purr as the young she-cat expressed great enthusiasm for fighting training. She had better take advantage of this opportunity. Fawnpaw was not often interested in fighting and was never near as enthusiastic about training. This would be a good experience for both of them.

The brown and grey tabby stepped into the small clearing where Fawnpaw was. There was no real point in heading all the way to the training grove, it was far away and no better equipped to train an apprentice as their current clearing. Willowstar had been Fawnpaw's mentor for only a short while and had not yet taught her in the ways of fighting. It would make no sense to start going over the basics when she had no idea what Fawnpaw inherently knew.

"Well then, we'll skip the formalities. Attack me."

[{Otter}]

((I'm sorry that my posts have been short x.x))

"Well then, we'll skip the formalities. Attack me."

The command stopped Fawnpaw dead, and she tilted her head to one side as she stared at her leader. Just...attack? She realized now was probably a good time to be a little more serious, but her excitement kept her from being able to focus much. She couldn't seem to register what she was supposed to do. After a moment of thinking, Fawnpaw backed up a few pawsteps and dropped into what she figured might be an intimidating crouch. She had heard once from some warrior or elder that, when faced with a bigger cat, you weren't supposed to just attack head-on. But...how was she supposed to do anything else?

Warriors...circled each other sometimes, right? The idea was intriguing, so Fawnpaw began to stalk around Willowstar in a attempt to get behind her or something. Obviously the leader didn't fall for it, but Fawnpaw hadn't really expected her to. A burst of energy sent her small body shooting around Willowstar in a circle, and then she stopped suddenly and leaped at her leader, claws sheathed but teeth bared as she attempted to do...something....

[Willow]

[[lol, mine have been too xD]]

Willowstar watched the excited young apprentice with a crooked smirk. She could almost see Fawnpaw's serious nature battling with this over-excited enthusiasm. Of course, the excitement won. The tawny apprentice dropped into a crouch, trying her best to look intimidating. The effect was quite comical and Willowstar had to force herself to not laugh at the she-cat's efforts.

Fawnpaw began to circle her and Willowstar nodded, silently praising her choice of action. Her movements were so predictable though and Willowstar turned slowly with her, never exposing her back to the apprentice. But then Fawnpaw did something the leader did not except. She gave up her careful stalking with a burst of speed and energy, seeming to fly around in a circle to leap at Willowstar's flank. The move had caught the grey and brown tabby off guard, but not unprepared for a counter-attack.

Before Fawnpaw's little claws could connect with anything more than fur, Willowstar had spun and batted the apprentice away with a strong forepaw. The lithe she-cat took a seat on the ground and regarded her apprentice with an expression of pride and thoughtfulness. "That was a good attempt, Fawnpaw. No warrior would ever expect the suddenness of your attack. When you are small, you have to work off cunning and surprise, not strength. You certainly seem to know that. You need to work on precision and timing, however. That will come with time, and training."

[{Otter}]

To her surprise, Willowstar did seem to be caught off-guard a little. Her claws unsheathed as she flew at her leader, and Fawnpaw felt a surge of excitement as they sunk slightly into Willowstar's smooth fur. With a swift display of power, Willowstar turned, and Fawnpaw felt a sharp bang against her side as her leader easily pushed her away. The small apprentice stumbled and fell, but sprang back to her feet at once, only to find Willowstar simply sitting down and watching her with a weird, contemplative expression on her face.

"You need to work on precision and timing, however. That will come with time, and training."

Precision and timing. Right. That made sense. Any other day, Fawnpaw would have stopped, contemplated this until she completely understood all that this entailed. But not today. Today was the day for action! She started to circle Willowstar again, realizing that her leader had liked what she was doing. Maybe I shouldn't do the same thing this time, she thought with a flick of her short, tawny tail. Maybe something...different?

But what? For StarClan's sake how could anyone think in the midst of a battle! How would she ever learn to do this? Fawnpaw's lack of self-confidence started to seep into her excited demeanor, and the young apprentice sat down, tail drooping and ears flattening slightly. "But what do I do now?" she asked as she studied Willowstar's lovely white paws. "I can't do the same thing I did before! But what else can I do?"

((That SUCKED, I'm so sorry x.x))

[Willow]

"I can't do the same thing I did before! But what else can I do?"

Willowstar smiled faintly at her confused and distressed apprentice. She stood and took a few steps towards the little she-cat and rest her tail on her shoulder lightly. "Don't worry, Fawnpaw. Variety will come with experience and through training. I don't expect you to do much to me on our first training session," she gave a comforting meow of laughter.

The ShadowClan leader turned and went back to her position a few tail-lengths from Fawnpaw. "Warriors don't always circle each other. Try something head on, try to distract me, use paw swipes or little bites. And remember, in a real fight, you always want to be aiming for your opponent's shoulders or throat. They're sure to flee if you get a good bite in there. But warriors know this and it's very difficult to get a good attack in without some deception." Willowstar studied the little cat.

"Try again, this time don't circle before attacking."

[{Otter}]

A deep inhale, a slow exhale, and Fawnpaw made herself relax. First day of training. Don't freak out, she thought with attempted cheerfulness as her energy began leaking back into her system. She momentarily forgot her worry and anxiety about messing up, and instead allowed her tail to lash in excitement as she set her bright green eyes on her leader and mentor. Willowstar was big, much bigger than Fawnpaw would ever be, and the young apprentice had no idea how attacking her head-on was supposed to do anything! She didn't know what feinting was, nor did she know how to do a trick move.

So...what did she do? With a shrug and a whispered prayer to StarClan, Fawnpaw crouched down and tensed her muscles, waiting as she watched Willowstar. It was hard to sit still, and she would have rather been circling, but she knew she couldn't disobey her leader's words. After a long moment of deliberation on where she was supposed to attack, the tawny apprentice tensed and sprang forward as fast as her compact body could go, aiming for Willowstar's forepaws. Maybe, just maybe, she could knock them out from under her and cause the leader of ShadowClan to stumble. Or something.

[Willow]

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[atrb=background,http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r230/Mica556/willowtablebg.png] Willowstar’s yellow gaze was focused on her apprentice. Fawnpaw was obviously deep in thought as she was trying to figure out an attack that her leader would not expect. The ShadowClan leader doubted that the new apprentice would be able to find anything unexpected, but waited patiently for the tawny she-cat’s move. Excitement mingled with the confusion on Fawnpaw’s face and her tail lashed behind her. Willowstar smiled faintly and knew the apprentice was about to execute her attack. A few more moments of thought passed before Fawnpaw dropped into a crouch. Willowstar noted that her muscles were too tensed and she was too rigid. They’d have to work on form sometime or else Fawnpaw would be worn out before even attacking from tensing her muscles so much. The leader’s eyes followed Fawnpaw’s. They were staring at her, primarily at her paws. Good idea, she silently praised her apprentice. Of course her eyes gave away her intentions, but the thought behind the action was excellent. Finally her apprentice sprang forward. Willowstar was prepared of course and leaped to the left as her apprentice came towards her paws. She had almost let Fawnpaw get the attack in purposely, but had decided at the last second that she would learn less by having an easy mentor. She would have to learn the hard way. Pale yellow eyes turned to the no doubt frustrated she-cat. She purred. “That was an excellent idea, Fawnpaw. Knocking a warrior off balance is one of the best things you can do when they are so much larger than you. However, you should not stare at the location where you are planning to attack. Of course, in a real battle, it would be easier to catch a warrior unawares. If I was truly an enemy cat, I would probably not be studying your eyes as closely as I was. But still, you should never let your plans be known.” She blinked and looked at the tawny she-cat. What would be best now? If she had her attack again, Fawnpaw would only become more frustrated. However, Willowstar thought it would be best to have her try one last time, to put everything together. “I know you’re getting frustrated, but try one last time. Try to trick me, do something unexpected. You may try anything you like, just try to knock me down or unbalance me. Just give it your best shot.” She smiled encouragingly and sat again, tail curled over her paws as she waited for her apprentice. ___________________________________ words xx 419 audience xx Fawnpaw music xx Snow and Lights – Explosions in the Sky comments xx Sorry this took me so long!

[{Otter}]

Naturally, Willowstar dodged. Fawnpaw had been expecting that, really, and she skidded to a halt the moment she saw her leader move. Sighing, the young apprentice turned slowly to face the lanky she-cat. The rare spark that had sent her bounding about the territory, chasing squirrels and leaves, was gone now under the weight of her frustration.

Willowstar began to speak, and slowly Fawnpaw's eyes brightened just a little bit. So, most warriors in an actual battle wouldn't have seen it coming. That was nice to know. Even so, the realization didn't give her very much pleasure. She did not much like the idea of fighting and causing pain, and the fact that she might one day be able to harm another warrior brought her anxiety.

Whatever. No point in thinking that way while in practice. If she got through with this, they'd be able to start hunting maybe. That was what she was eager about learning.

And now she was expected to try again. She was supposed to trick Willowstar. How? How in StarClan's name could she do that? With a sigh, Fawnpaw sat down and set her eyes on Willowstar, though her mind wasn't on her leader. The small apprentice racked her brain, went through everything she'd tried so far, and, after several moments of silence, realized what she could do. Combine what she'd already done! Or...something.

Fawnpaw sprang to her paws, excited once more, and tensed her muscles. After a few more seconds she sprang forward, aiming for Willowstar's paws, but at the last moment she spun and sprinted in a circle around her leader. At the end of the circle she sprang at Willowstar's paws again, hoping the older she-cat was confused enough for this to really knock her off-balance this time.

[Willow]

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[atrb=background,http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r230/Mica556/willowtablebg.png] She watched her apprentice calmly. Fawnpaw was obviously very frustrated just as she had imagined the little she-cat would be. I can send her hunting after this, Willowstar thought as she passed her yellow gaze over her apprentice. A change of pace would probably raise her spirits again. Fawnpaw’s eyes were clouded with thought as she stared at her leader. She was thinking long and hard about how to outsmart her much older mentor. Willowstar watched her sympathetically, remembering her first day of training. It had been just as frustrating for her. The ShadowClan leader stood as Fawnpaw jumped to her paws. She gave the tawny apprentice a challenging grin and tensed herself slightly, preparing herself for the other’s attack. She had high hopes this time. Fawnpaw was an intelligent cat, she would have come up with something good, something meant to outwit her bigger opponent, not overpower. Willowstar stood lightly on her paws, ready to leap out of the way if needed and focused her eyes on the eyes of her apprentice. She was giving away nothing this time. Good. Fawnpaw sprang forward finally. She was headed towards her paws again. Willowstar sighed softly, disappointed as she moved easily to the side. But then her yellow eyes clouded with confusion. That wasn’t Fawnpaw’s goal. She fell short of her leader’s paws and spun around. What on earth was she doing? The little cat was so fast that Willowstar had no time to prepare herself as Fawnpaw sprinted around her. And anyway, she’d never seen a move like this before. She tried to dodge out of the way at the last second when she realized Fawnpaw was going for her paws again, but it was too late. The ShadowClan leader wobbled on two paws before falling onto the cold ground with a puff of air. The breath had been knocked out of her in the fall and she stood slowly, shaking herself and looking at her apprentice with pride. On the third try, Fawnpaw had managed to do something she had never expected and knock her over. And what’s more, she’d seen nothing like her attack before. Willowstar sat again, tail curled around her paws. “Wonderful, Fawnpaw,” she purred, “I’ve never seen a move like that before. It was completely unexpected. You used your wits and your speed very well. You’d certainly give any rival cat a difficult time.” She regarded her silently for a moment before going on. “Now, would you prefer to continue training or would you like to return to your hunting?” she asked Fawnpaw before turning her head to smooth down the fur on her back that had been ruffled in their training. ___________________________________ words xx 447 audience xx Fawnapw music xx Warning – Green Day comments xx Bad post, sorry D=

[{Otter}]

Time seemed to come to a crawl as she raced around Willowstar. It was as if Fawnpaw had time to see every aspect of Willowstar's face--she was surprised, spinning around in an attempt to locate her apprentice, and as Fawnpaw sprang forward, she caught her leader off-guard and sent her falling to the ground. Immediately the small apprentice sprang backwards, too startled by her success to realize that Willowstar might have wanted her to keep going, to pin her down or something.

She...had made Willowstar fall down? Wide green eyes studied her leader as Willowstar picked herself up off the ground. She looked proud, not irritated, and certainly didn't seem to have done it on purpose. Fawnpaw didn't think Willowstar had fallen just to make her feel better. No, Willowstar looked genuinely surprised and proud.

What little pride Fawnpaw had was coaxed from her shell as Willowstar praised her. The apprentice's eyes lit up and she curled her tail in pleasure. No, she didn't much like the idea of fighting for real, and she figured that, in battle, she'd be much too frightened and pressured to think of something like that, but the fact that she was doing well and making Willowstar proud was incredibly encouraging.

“Now, would you prefer to continue training or would you like to return to your hunting?”

What answer was Willowstar expecting? Fawnpaw's gaze traveled to her leader, and she frowned slightly as her tail drooped. What did Willowstar want to do? Why ask her? She wanted to start hunting now, but what if her sudden success meant Willowstar wanted to keep going? Was this a test? StarClan knew Fawnpaw didn't want to say the wrong thing. She went with the easy answer.

"....either," she mewed quietly, eyes now locked on the grass between her forepaws. Hunting, she thought decisively, but couldn't bring herself to say it.