One of Birdpaw's favourite things is battle training.
When there were eight apprentices in training, she was the third strongest, only outdone by Oakpaw and Cloudpaw. Greypaw and Skypaw could put up a fair fight, but could never quite manage to outdo Birdpaw in the strength training they did. It was the one thing Sootstorm seemed to truly admire about her, her strength. She would catch him smirking at the other mentors whenever she easily hauled one of the other apprentices, or easily carried her own weight up a tree. And, because of this, it was something Birdpaw greatly admired about herself as well. She would openly brag about her own strength, earning eye-rolls and smiles from her senior warriors, and a few challenges to a wrestle, to which Sootstorm would decline for her ("to save her the embarrassment," followed by a knowing wink.)
And when Cloudpaw moved out of the apprentice's den – with his unfortunate new warrior name, Cloudsky, and his brother with the new name of Skycloud. Lightstar considered himself hilarious – Birdpaw found herself the second strongest apprentice, and began to push herself to become the strongest. Between the hunting training and patrols, she and Sootstorm would have her lifting logs across fields and practising battle moves all the time. It wouldn't be long before Lionpaw inherited his father's incredible strength, and Birdpaw needed to be ready to put up a proper fight to keep her title.
The first half of the day was to be dedicated to an all-apprentice battle-training session. The large group of mentors and apprentices made their way towards the training hollow. Greypaw and Birdpaw lead the way, shrieking and yowling and scaring away any prey on the territory to the chagrin of their mentors, as they chased one another through the undergrowth. Sootstorm was hot on their trails, growling out to be quiet, whilst Whitewhisker followed along, discontent clear on her face. Lionpaw and Oakpaw were trotting along as well talking with Redmask (who was filling in for Dustmoon, as he had other clan matters to deal with) and Hawkflight. Seedpaw and Honeypaw were chatting and giggling to themselves, describing how much cuter Skycloud and Cloudsky were now that they were warriors, whilst their mentors, Tumblerose and Furze-eye, eavesdropped and shook their heads at their mildly inappropriate comments.
Birdpaw and Greypaw finally tumbled into the training hollow, Greypaw pouncing onto his sister and squawking with victory, whilst Sootstorm finally caught up with them, panting with rage. Whitewhisker followed behind, whiskers twitching with amusement, as she looks over her shoulder, "Come on, you turtles! We ain't got all day." Before she trots over to pull her apprentice off of his sister.
Redmask, Oakpaw, Lionpaw and Hawkflight slip in behind the rest of them, Hawkflight beginning to tease and rile up his apprentice for the day of training ahead, much to the younger brown tabbies delight. Redmask asked Lionpaw if he is sure he wants to face Greypaw, to which the golden tom nodded eagerly. Honeypaw and Seedpaw joined shortly afterwards, beginning to compete over who is stronger. Tumblerose and Furze-eye finally joined the rest of the group, purring as they watch their apprentices mock one another.
"Ok!" Sootstorm called out as he dragged Birdpaw to sit next to him, "Lionpaw and Honeypaw will be spending some time learning some basic battle moves and catching up with the rest of us. Seedpaw and Greypaw shall spar first, then Oakpaw and Birdpaw. Regardless of who wins or loses, we will then switch to Seedpaw and Birdpaw and Oakpaw and Greypaw." Lionpaw and Honeypaw huffed, scuffing their paws at the idea of having to learn the basics whilst their senior apprentices battled, "And," Sootstorm cut in through their disappointment, "then we shall have one last spar between the older apprentices and younger apprentices. We have decided to pair Greypaw and Lionpaw, Honeypaw and Birdpaw, and Oakpaw and Seedpaw."
Birdpaw groaned at the idea of having to face off with the smaller golden she-cat, but her future opponent seemed delighted at having to battle her, nudging her from where she had decided to seat herself next to the blue-grey she-cat, "You're going to trash me, but don't expect me to lay down and submit!"
Birdpaw's competitive spirit kicked in, eyes narrowing as she looked at the other she-cat, "I'm going to destroy you." To which Honeypaw recoiled, used to friendly jesting and playful shoulder bumps, the serious tone Birdpaw had taken on being completely foreign to her.
"Woah you two, calm down," Oakpaw said as he padded by, eyes widening as if Birdpaw had threatened to kill Honeypaw. Which, technically she did, "Someone might think you're falling madly in love, relax."
"Maybe we are," Honeypaw responded readily.
"Absolutely not." Birdpaw replied in sync with the other she-cat, looking down at her with a tilted head at her response.
"Ah, young love," Oakpaw shook his head at the two of them, "I can already feel the chemistry, the-"
"Okay, it was mildly funny at first, and now you're about to transform into an elder who tells romance stories all day." Birdpaw snorted at her brother, cuffing him over the ears playfully, to which he instinctively ducked.
"Did I hear something about romance? I'm the mistress of romance, I'll have you know," Seedpaw padded over, sitting down beside her brother, "Furze-eye and Redmask are bickering over what to teach Lionpaw and Honeypaw, and after the fifth, 'you piece of mouse-dung just listen,' I got bored."
"Ah, well, welcome to romance central," Oakpaw glanced over his shoulder where the two warriors were still battling it out over whether or not to teach Lionpaw and Honeypaw the 'duck-and-swipe' move, before he looked back to the group, "Honeypaw and Birdpaw here are practically mates already. Honeypaw was all, 'you're going to trash me,' and Birdpaw was saying, 'I'm going to destroy you,' it was all very passionate."
Seedpaw looked between the two she-cats, genuinely confused for a brief second, before she caught on to her brother's joke, "Ohhh. It all makes sense now. Pretending to not like each-other to hide your secret love scandal. How did I not see this coming?"
"You're both very funny," Honeypaw snorted as well, to which Oakpaw nudged Seedpaw and murmured, 'see? Laughing the exact same way and all!', "But I think Birdpaw would rather swim in a river full of bees than be my mate."
"You're correct." Birdpaw replied bluntly without even looking at the other she-cat.
"Ooo, tough love," Oakpaw wrinkled his nose to indicate to Birdpaw that maybe she had been a bit too mean, though Honeypaw said nothing about her blunt reply, so she ignored his attempt to give her social advice, "You'll get her next time, tiger."
"You four!" All four apprentices looked to see Sootstorm standing in between Furze-eye and Redmask, an unimpressed look on his face, "Get over here, we're gonna start training now that we've all come to a mutual, debated agreement." He glared at Furze-eye and then Redmask, "If you're all good, we'll give you the day off and you can... swim in the lake or something, I don't know."
"Well, lovebirds," Oakpaw looked between Honeypaw and Birdpaw, "You two try not to romantically tear each-other's throats out when you get around to sparring, hmm?" Before he turned heel and darted to meet his mentor, to avoid the earful Birdpaw was inevitably going to deliver him.
"Yeah, try to keep the constant bickering for when you're alone." Seedpaw added, winking at them both as if she had suggested something else, before she happily bounced over to her own mentor, head high and a smile on her face.
"Unbelievable." Birdpaw murmured and shook her head, before she began to walk to join the group.
Honeypaw walked alongside the blue-grey she-cat for a brief moment, muttering out a, "Please don't actually kill me during our fight," Before she bounded up to stand next to Tumblerose proudly. Birdpaw watched her go, noticing for the first time a white spot on the tip of her tail. She cocked her head backwards, and smirked as she thought of all the ways she could take her down in training.
Oh, she was so going to kill her.
Birdpaw's entire body ached as she finally managed to pin down Seedpaw, grunting with the effort. Seedpaw struggled for a few seconds, tongue lolling outwards, before she allowed herself to lie still, closing her eyes, "Okay, okay... you... StarClan, that hurts- you win." Birdpaw clambered off of her sister, who sat up and shook out her fur, not caring that it frizzed up. The cream-furred she-cat shakily stood up, groaning as she toppled towards her mentor. Birdpaw stumbled over to stand next to Sootstorm, as he proudly declared her the winner of the battle. Fighting Oakpaw and then Seedpaw was most definitely a mistake, Birdpaw was just glad she'd have a doss round now, as Honeypaw stood proudly next to Tumblerose, puffing her chest out.
"Now that Honeypaw and Lionpaw have learned their first battle moves, we shall have a small test for them against Greypaw and Birdpaw," Sootstorm explained, indicating with his tail to Seedpaw and Oakpaw, "Whilst those two shall spar once more," Sootstorm nudged Seedpaw with a paw as she leaned against Furze-eye, panting heavily, "Let them get some endurance training in, hm?"
"Oh yeah, great." Seedpaw responded sarcastically, rubbing her eyes with her paw, to which Sootstorm chuckled, before he turned back to Birdpaw.
"Now, please go easy on her," Birdpaw blinked hard in confusion, right ear leaning at an angle, as Sootstorm indicated to the small golden tabby, "She's a new apprentice, and if I send the leader's daughter home covered in bruises, I'll never be a mentor again." Sootstorm explained, glancing over to where Honeypaw was sloppily practising on Tumblerose, who was doing her best to give some last minute form advice. Her movements were quick but inaccurate, and Tumblerose could easily dodge, even if she moved slower than the apprentice.
"But she said-" Birdpaw began, only to have a tail stuffed in her mouth.
"I don't care if she said she's going to haul you from here to ShadowClan!" Sootstorm hissed, barely even flinching when Birdpaw dug the points of her fangs into his tail, "You will not hurt her purposefully. You will act as if you're play-fighting with a kit, understand?"
"Fine, fine," Birdpaw spat out Sootstorm's tail. She'd like to say his fur tasted bad, but he kind of tasted like what daffodil's smelled like.
Birdpaw and Honeypaw paired up at the far side of the training hollow, leaving Greypaw, Lionpaw, Seedpaw and Oakpaw plenty of space for their, most likely, more intense battles. Birdpaw stretched herself out, shaking out any tension she had gotten in her muscles from the fights with Oakpaw and Seedpaw, she pressed low to the ground before lifting herself back up again, purring as Honeypaw attempted to imitate her pre-battle warm-up.
"Now, basic rules," Tumblerose called out from where she paced the border of where they were allowed to fight, "No claws, of course, and no true-biting," Honeypaw flexed one claw, examining it, before sheathing it. She was obviously attempting to look threatening, but Birdpaw had seen snails that looked scarier than her, "First to pin their opponent for more than five seconds wins."
Birdpaw and Honeypaw both nodded to affirm they understood the rules, before Sootstorm yowled to indicate they could fight. Birdpaw pressed low to the floor as Honeypaw threw herself forward a few bounds, before slowing to a halt, mimicking Birdpaw by pressing low to the ground and beginning to creep around her. Her form was weak, and she was not nearly pressed closely enough to the ground to get enough power when she kicked off, but Birdpaw supposed it was smart of her to not just throw herself at her opponent. Birdpaw suddenly sprang forward, thrusting her head into Honeypaw's side, though not as hard as she could have, with Sootstorm's eyes piercing into her back. Honeypaw curled slightly at the sudden force, but managed to twist as she fell to pound at Birdpaw's head with her paws.
Birdpaw felt paws hammering themselves against her chest, as she half-stood over Honeypaw, before there was one kick strong enough to make her recoil and throw herself backwards, "Good!" Tumblerose called to her apprentice, a wide smile full of pride on her face. Sootstorm watched his apprentice silently, he knew she was capable of handling herself, and that was she was laying off the other apprentice.
Honeypaw scrambled upright, and charged forward once more. But her footwork was sloppy and her head dizzy, and her paws slipped from under her, toppling towards the ground head-first. Birdpaw glanced to Tumblerose, who was lifting a paw towards her face in disappointment, before she charged forward, tackling Honeypaw once more. Honeypaw groaned for a second, confused, before she realised what was happening. She swiped at Birdpaw's face, hissing and spitting as she writhed underneath the much larger she-cat, pushing her face away with her paw.
Birdpaw held fast, using her weight to hold herself to the ground as the younger apprentice thrashed beneath her. Honeypaw pushed her chin upwards, forcing her to stare into the sun, before eventually all of her limbs lay flat on the floor, her golden chest heaving forward, "I give up. You win."
"And, as a ShadowClan warrior," Tumblerose commented, strolling over to push Birdpaw off the loser of the battle, before she pressed her paw to thick fur, "Her claws sink right into your throat, and she tells the tale of how it was a slip of the paw," Tumblerose dug the nibs of her claws into the other she-cat's neck, only enough to allow Honeypaw to acknowledge the claws were there with an uncomfortable squirm, "Never say, 'Oh, I give up.' We give up when we open our eyes and see StarClan."
Honeypaw huffed and batted her mentor's paw away, sitting upright, "Not my fault you paired me with one of the strongest apprentices."
"Flattered, but in battle you won't get to choose who you fight." Honeypaw's lips curled for a brief moment, clearly thinking Birdpaw was making a joke, but when she saw the dead serious look on the blue-grey she-cat's face, her look fell blank once more. She hunched in on herself, huffing a stray strand of fur out of her eyes comically, before she nodded slowly, understanding the lesson she was being taught.
Across the clearing, Greypaw and Lionpaw finally pulled away from one another, unable to outdo each-other, whilst Seedpaw finally managed to get in a good, agile move her brother couldn't counter, and tripped him up by his legs, pinning him on his stomach. She yowled victoriously, delighted with herself for having outdone Oakpaw, whilst her brother grumbled to himself bitterly.
The group of mentors and apprentices regrouped, as Whitewhisker began to address everyone, "I'm really impressed with the ability show today," She announced, Birdpaw feeling her ears burn with embarrassment yet her chest swelled with pride when her eyes lingered on Birdpaw for a few seconds, "It is clear that you will all be capable warriors, even if some of us need some work done..." Whitewhisker continued as Birdpaw eventually began to tune out of the speech. She had heard enough, and Whitewhisker was known for her long rambles.
"Hey, Birdpaw," Honeypaw took a seat beside her former training buddy, though the much larger cat did not look down to make eye-contact, "You're really good at fighting, even if it was an unfair fight," Honeypaw nudged Birdpaw in an attempt to be playful, but received little response other than a grunt to signify she had been heard, "I hope I can end up being as good at fighting as you and Oakpaw. Tumblerose was saying I should watch you two sparring so I could learn more moves."
"It'll come up with time," Birdpaw forced out, as her eyes remained locked on Whitewhisker. She saw her mouth moving, but did not hear the words she spoke, "Oakpaw and I spend days practicing at a time, between hunting lessons and patrolling."
Honeypaw nodded slowly, "Yeah, that makes sense. You two could never be so good without practice. Father always said practice makes perfect."
"I'm not perfect, yet." Birdpaw snorted, finally looking down at the golden tabby. Honeypaw opened her mouth to say more, when suddenly Sootstorm joined them, nudging his apprentice upright.
"Come on, Whitewhisker's finally done," He said, nodding to Honeypaw, "You did well today, for your first spar. I hope you'll spar Birdpaw again, when you're older and have had more practice."
"I will." Honeypaw chirped back, beaming at the mentor's approval of her skill.
Sootstorm nodded once more, never one for talking, before he nudged Birdpaw with his muzzle once more, "Come on, I'll race you back to the camp."
Birdpaw felt adrenaline pump through her veins once more, as she pushed herself off, taking long bounds out of the clearing. As Sootstorm easily ran to leap and push himself alongside her, she wondered how next she would beat Honeypaw in battle.
Finally done! After literally 6 months, I finally got inspiration to continue this, and it's pretty long (2,884 words!). If you're still here, I applaud you cause I would have left by now. I promise updates will be more consistent, especially with school being over. Expect the next one in under a month (I'm going on holidays, and I tend to get a lot of inspiration to write on those, so I'll come back and be a writing machine).
Anyway, thank you for reading, please leave a review. Point out flaws so that I can correct them, and let me know what you think!