Ashfur shakes his pelt out as he enters camp again, Lionpaw following right behind him, exhausted but content. Finally out of the medicine den. Ashfur breathes up and stretches, limbering up his muscles after the exercise that was today's training lesson with his apprentice. After having been condemned to lay still for so long, the effort felt good and Lionpaw keeps surprising him. Brackenfur and Brambleclaw both claim not to have done much with the bright pelted apprentice, and yet he seems to have come up with entirely new moves for today's combat training. Looking at the tired apprentice making his way past him over to the apprentice den for a bit of rest, Ashfur feels a bit of pride in Lionpaw. He kept his word, kept his boastfulness to himself, and today's lesson turned out almost enjoyable for both of them, despite Brackenfur's comments that they are again fighting too harshly for training. Lionpaw can manage, he's increasingly proven so. Squirrelflight's son will be one of the greatest warriors the clans ever knew after his mentoring, surely that would have to count for something in the end.

Looking up into the sky, Ashfur observes the slowly sinking sun. The first snow has fallen a few days ago, and the days have been getting shorter for a while now already. If Ashfur is to do anything before nightfall, it'd be best to do it now. Not to mention that if he stays in the camp doing nothing, he'll likely be chosen for the duskpatrol… Shaking his head, he decides to go out and do what he's been doing since before encountering Talon, hunt and feed the clan. Prey will be scarcer now, but he'll find something. He usually does. Padding past Cloudtail, giving his adoptive sibling an acknowledging nod as the white furred warrior moves past with fresh-kill in his maw, Ashfur pushes through the camp's entrance.

Laying outside, digging with appetite into a vole, Ashfur watches the camp. His hunt had been a success as per usual, although he noted that prey was even fewer than he'd suspected. It might become a difficult leafbare if that persists. Under his blue gaze, the clan's warriors and apprentices have all already retreated into their dens, only tonight's guard outside, as well as Longtail. The cold seems to bother Longtail far less than his fellow elder Mousetail. Then again, he was still a bit younger than the brown she-cat. Observing the blind elder looking up at silverpelt, Ashfur wonders what might be going through his head. Longtail has been there for a long time, he was a warrior already when Firestar joined the clan as an apprentice, before Ashfur was even born. Longtail's tenacity always impressed Ashfur, even after loosing his sight he kept hunting for the clan. He would still be a fierce warrior if he could still see, the grey tom has no doubts on that. Finishing his vole and licking the last bits of blood from his muzzle, Ashfur rises to his paws. He should be going soon, he can't know for sure when Talon will arrive. He'd rather not keep the Bloodclan warrior waiting on their first day of training. Not after having waited with such anticipation for it to finally begin. He wanders over to the camp's entrance, as he draws near recognising tonight's guard as his kin Spiderleg. The grey tom nods his head to the younger warrior as he passes. Spiderleg's amber eyes hold questions, but he does not speak them, waving his tail in greeting instead, watching his mother's brother disappear into the forest. The earth has already hardened with a bit of frost under Ashfur's paws as he pads through the nighttime forest, ears alertly swivelling atop his head. He hadn't noticed Talon hiding in a tree last time they met. This time he wishes for no surprises. His purpose is clear tonight, grow stronger, learn all he can.

Approaching their spot by the river however, Ashfur finds that the tom has already arrived and is sitting by the water's edge. As Ashfur pushes through the reeds, Talon's ear swivels backwards, clearly having noticed the arriving warrior. The blue eyed tom notes that Talon keeps looking into the water, much like he ever so often would. Something is weighing on the Bloodclan warrior. As if feeling Ashfur's thoughts, Talon takes a deep breath and looks over to him, expression neutral and eyes betraying nothing of what is going on.

„So you came. Did the wound heal well enough?"

Sitting down next to the darker tom, Ashfur nods

„It did. Didn't even scar much. Didn't reopen training with my apprentice today, so I think it will be fine"

Talon hums quietly, pulling his tail over to wind around his paws

„Good. Your apprentice, you say?"

Ashfur tilts his head at the question. Surely Bloodclan understands having an apprentice, right? How else would they train their cats?

„Yes, the apprentice I was appointed to train. Lionpaw. Do you have an apprentice as well?"

Talon's eyes grow a little thoughtful as he seems to ponder his response

„Depending on how you look at it. Not appointed, no. But I do from time to time train with some of the other cats and I teach the younger warriors a few things. If that counts."

„Your warriors are not appointed apprentices to train?"

Ashfur does little to disguise the surprise in his voice. Talon shakes his head

„No. That is not a concept Bloodclan works with. The young are at first mostly trained by their parents or any warrior volunteering, and after they become full members of the clan, they can ask any warrior to help and teach them. They are not limited to a single mentor. A young warrior may ask any clanmate for assistance in growing stronger, be it for hunting, fighting or anything else"

Ashfur looks from Talon into the slowly flowing water of the river. A very different way of training their young. It sounds smart, but at the same time the concept just seems downright alien, to Ashfur, as if an important component was missing in it.

„And how do they become full members? The clans hold an assessment of their apprentices when the mentor declares them ready. They will be observed hunting and if they do well, they are given their warrior name and become warriors"

„Only hunting? Well, I imagine that would work in the forest. A Bloodclan cat needs to pass the three trials to get their first trophy and be recognised as fully fledged warriors. They must fool and escape twolegs, prove themselves in a fight and survive for a moon without the clan's aid."

Ashfur blinks, returning his gaze to Talon. That seems like a lot more than their requirements.

„I understand proving your fighting ability. I imagine surviving some time alone make sense as well… but why the twolegs?"

Talon lifts his paw to his collar

„Where else would our young get their collars? Not all who join us are kitty-pets, those born of our own warriors or loners we accept in have to get it from twolegs first, then escape said twolegs to return to us. Although, that is much less complicated than it sounds. There are a few twolegs known for taking in cats and giving them collars without much further ado. In reality that is often the easiest of the trials if the young ones asked around and prepared in advance. It's usually the last of the trials anyway. If something goes wrong, the skills they needed for their previous trials will help keep them alive"

As the Bloodclan cat's paw descends back down, Ashfur finds himself observing the collar. Teeth and carved bones sticking out all round it, glistening in the light of the moon despite many of them yellowing by now. With a short silence following, Talon looks back into the water. Ashfur looks for the other tom's gaze in the water's reflecting surface, the red eyes seeming to hold regret. Pondering for several heartbeats if or not he should pry, Ashfur decides to give in to curiosity

„Did something happen? You seem distracted"

Talon slowly hums and nods, before licking his paw and drawing it over his ear several times

„No cat can avoid consequence. A great cat told me this a few days ago, and he's been proven right shortly after. A choice I made may end up having consequences for another cat's life. I am still wondering if I was right or not, or what I could have done differently"

Ashfur flicks his ear, listening to the dark grey warrior. If only some of his clanmates showed this amount of consideration. This cat cares deeply for his clanmates. Almost everything he's learned about Talon himself so far contradicts everything Thunderclan believes and teaches about Bloodclan warriors. If Talon had been born in Thunderclan instead, perhaps they would have been friends. As the blue eyed warrior fails to produce an answer for a while, Talon slowly raises his left paw. Ashfur wonders for a moment what Talon might be up to, before he watches him bite one of the dogteeth reinforcing his claws and with a little cautious pull and wiggle pull it off. As it drops to the ground, Talon gets to work on the next, and then the next, one by one removing the large reinforcing claws from his paws. Ashfur watches silently, never having seen something like that. He didn't know they could be taken off, then again he never asked. The final claw hitting the ground, Talon rises to his paws.

„We can start training now. Get ready, Ashfur. Claws may be sheathed, but don't think that I will make it easy. If you want to grow stronger, you will need to put the necessary effort into it"

Ashfur nods, his heart beginning to beat a bit faster. So it begins at last. Getting up and bounding a taillength away from Talon, he crouches down, readying himself. Finally. Anticipation grows bright in his blue eyes as he beholds the Talon lowering himself into a battle ready crouch. Whatever emotion those red eyes held vanishes as they narrow. Ashfur tries to push down his emotions, clearing his head as he faces his opponent, eyes narrowing in return.

„You fought decently last time, but knowing you had only one cat teaching you explains to me why you made one critical mistake. Your mentor was smaller or lighter than you, correct?"

Ashfur's thoughts turn to Dustpelt. The tom is indeed smaller than he. Also Dustpelt is quite lithe, whereas Ashfur is broader in stature.

„Yes, why?"

„Because you fight as if you were too. A lithe cat has less worry when knocked down, less weight working against you. Not you, if you crash down, it's harder for you to get away. That's how I won last time. Try to work more with stability. You have strength, shorter movements and countering your opponent will work better for you as a start. I will try to knock you down, try to resist"

Huffing out a breath from his nostrils, Ashfur nods. Stability… Rather counter than attack. Perhaps a slightly broader stance will work. As Talon slowly prowls around him, Ashfur turns to keep facing him, widening his stance a bit. Suddenly Talon rushes forward, changing direction just barely out of the reach of Ashfur's claws. The grey tom tries to turn to keep facing Talon, but only manages partially as the dark furred tom rams into him at full force. Ashfur feels some of the air being knocked out of him, the force projecting him back a bit, but he manages to catch himself from falling. Being a seasoned warrior still, he knows better than to celebrate too early, immediately proven right as Talon is already closing in already. With a forceful bat of his paw against Ashfur's head, the warrior is destabilised for a moment. Raising his paw to strike back, Ashfur just barely has time to see Talon's descend, the Bloodclan warrior's jaws clamping down on Ashfur's other front leg. The Thunderclan warrior's swipe hits Talon forcefully, but at this point that no longer rescues Ashfur, as less than a heartbeat later Talon strongly pulls back his head, pulling away all support under Ashfur's upper body. He crashes to the ground, only to find Talon still holding on to his leg, able to easily roll Ashfur partially over and put his paw on the blue eyed warrior's exposed neck once more before letting go

„Good. The broader stance will serve you better. But you prefer fighting with your claws. You should have tried to use your teeth to either stop my blow, or try to snap at my face. I would have needed to pull back, or risk getting a very nasty injury."

As Talon steps back, Ashfur rolls back onto his paws before standing right back up

„Claws injure, teeth kill. That is what I was thought. We mainly use teeth for prey or badgers and the like. In a fight, usually only when we know it will only injure or give us a grip on the enemy."

Talon huffs and shakes his head

„You miss out on a lot of chances, thinking like that. Even without killing blows, your teeth can be very useful, especially with a muscular frame like yours. Once you get a proper hold of your enemy, they need to be seriously good to still stand a chance. Teeth and claws work very well together. A bite can keep you close to an otherwise evasive enemy or allow you to open up weaknesses. As you noticed. Now, again! Try to catch either my blow or scruff when I attack the second time."

Ashfur nods, briefly shaking out his pelt before dropping back down into a crouch. Though the blows he took spark a bit of anger in him, excitement by far outweighs it. Finally it begins. With this, he will have a chance again! If he can fight like that, or even better, there will be no denying it anymore. He will be better. A better warrior than Brambleclaw, a better choice, a worthier mate for Squirrelflight.