I want more reviews. Thanks to those few of you who actually did review. No thanks to those of you who read it but didn't bother to tell me what you thought. It's not that hard.
"Ouch! Stop poking me!" Oakpaw growled. Rainpaw rolled her eyes, but she couldn't hide a glimmer of amusement.
"You don't want to be late for your first day of training, do you?" she mewed. "You know how Icefire gets mad really easily.
"Right!" Oakpaw stood up, stretching hastily. "I'd better go." He pushed his muzzle into his sister's flank, then dashed out of the apprentices' den. Rainpaw flicked her tail and followed him out. She couldn't sleep too much longer either; even though Moonflower wasn't as quick-tempered as Icefire, Rainpaw didn't want to be late on her first day of training.
Rainpaw took a small mouse from the fresh-kill pile and padded over to sit outside the apprentices' den. She dropped her mouse by Hollypaw and crouched down, eating quickly. She finished and headed across the camp towards the medicine cat's den, calling a "Goodbye, Hollypaw! And good luck!" Then she turned to find Moonflower.
"Now, attack me again. But this time be quicker. If I was your enemy, I would have had all your fur off by the time you could react," Icefire said, "and then some."
It was four sunrises after the four apprentices had started their training, and already Oakpaw could identify every smell in the forest. He could scent a mouse and tell how long ago it had been there. Now he was working on the fighting.
Oakpaw frowned, concentrating hard. Icefire would expect him to run straight forward and jump at him. That was what he had done last time, and he had ended up flat on his back, staring up at the face of his mentor. It hadn't worked last time, and it wouldn't work this time.
Maybe if he jumped slightly to one side. Icefire would spring the other way, and he would instantly be able to spring on top of him. It was worth a try.
Oakpaw ran towards his mentor and leaped, slightly to one side. As he had thought, Icefire dodged away from Oakpaw and reached out with a forepaw to trip him. Oakpaw landed just far enough away, and, while his mentor was still slightly off-balance, he ran forward, barreling into him, the impact knocking him over. He leaped on top of Icefire, barely able to hold him down. He scrabbled for his mentor's belly with his hind paws, and Icefire groaned. Alarmed, Oakpaw stepped away. He hadn't wanted to hurt his mentor. But as Icefire stood up, there was a gleam of amusement in his eyes.
"Well done," he said. "I think that's enough for today. We'll do more tomorrow."
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