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Post by Jaystar on Jul 26, 2018 4:05:06 GMT
The previous evening, right as everyone settled into the camp for dinner and bedtime, Jaystar made a quick announcement, asking warriors and apprentices to come together at sun-high in two days for a Clan-wide training session. Their muscles were weak after a long, somber leafbare. They needed to prepare themselves for the coming moons, for predators and for whatever fights may break out among the Clans.
In his warriors, Jaystar saw anger. He sought to relieve them of this obnoxious feeling, and it seemed that a physical outlet would be perfect: They could release their frustration and build up their strength simultaneously.
The hours of preparation came and went, and now the small gray tabby tom stood before his Clan at eye-level. While it was typical for WindClan leaders to perch on the Tallrock, Jaystar found it more appropriate to be on the ground with his Clanmates for the sake of fairness and clarity in this activity.
"Today is the day we sharpen our fighting techniques. While I currently have no plans to lead you into battle, and trust me when I say I would make an announcement if I did, we need to return to our roots as warriors. Illness and leafbare took their tolls on us, but those dark days are over and we must look ahead. As we all know, times of peace are few and far in-between for Clan cats. We have little information on how our rivals are faring at this time, and we need to be ready for anything."
His throat stung. Jaystar flicked an ear. He hated talking this much. "Who would like to demonstrate a practice fight with me?"
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Post by Maplestripe on Jul 26, 2018 21:13:35 GMT
The tabby she-cat had been listening to Jaystar talking about fighting and battle. She was quite excited for this exercise. She hadn't fought anything in awhile and would appreciate brushing up on her skills in case if a fox or badger dared come into the territory. While he spoke, she dug her claws into the ground. She wanted to get right to fighting.
He eventually said if anyone would like to demonstrate a fight. She automatically perked her ears up and meowed "I would!" Maplestripe was probably way too excited for this but she didn't care.
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Post by Jaystar on Jul 27, 2018 1:15:34 GMT
Maplestripe's enthusiasm proved to Jaystar that at least a handful of his warriors shed the darkness of the past few moons and looked to the future of the Clan. The gray tabby dipped his head. "Thank you, Maplestripe. Your dedication to bettering yourself is noted."
Jaystar's gaze scanned the crowd and he said, "The next cat to step up will practice against the winner of this match. I expect everyone to be watch each match with a sharp eye: What we notice today may help us in future battles as we get a feel for our Clanmates' techniques."
Satisfied with his speech, the middle-aged tom focused on his opponent. "Good luck."
The small tomcat launched himself at his Clanmate, hoping to surprise her and, consequently, knock her over. Like most WindClan cats, Jaystar didn't boast a bulky body with large muscles, but he wouldn't want it any other way. A small cat had more chances to be clever, and there were few things Jaystar loved more than the thrill of a shocked expression in the middle of a fight.
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Post by Maplestripe on Jul 27, 2018 1:32:09 GMT
She'd step up quickly, positioning herself in front of the tom. She knew it wouldn't be easy, he had more experience. Maplestripe hoped she would hear a "Begin" or something before fighting started. Unfortunately that didn't happen and she was knocked over by the tom. She narrowed her eyes and rolled out from under Jaystar, clawing at his stomach as she did so. She wasn't going to give up that easily.
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Post by Jaystar on Jul 27, 2018 9:57:19 GMT
Adrenaline pulsed through Jaystar. He'd successfully knocked Maplestripe over, but before he could take advantage of the situation, she rolled away. Her claws swiped past him, barely missing his stomach, and he leaped away, out of reach. "Claws sheathed," he said.
Jaystar crouched, his tail lashing for balance, and stared at the warrior for a few seconds. He jerked toward her left side, hoping for an instinctual reaction, then dashed to her right and aimed a hooked paw around her leg, hoping to pull it out from under her.
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Post by Maplestripe on Jul 27, 2018 17:41:17 GMT
Maplestripe jumped up out of her roll, crouching. She watched Jaystar carefully attempting to figure out his next move. She moved to the right when he jerked to the left, causing her to fall into his trap. She lost her balance but batted out with her left paw to attempt to bring Jaystar down with her.
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Post by Jaystar on Jul 27, 2018 18:50:26 GMT
Jaystar managed to knock his Clanmate down, but it seemed he lacked the strength required to properly knock the wind out of her, and so while he busied himself with knocking her over, she retaliated with the same move.
The world took a sharp turn, the sky flipping from above to below in seconds. The small tom landed with a thud, and he groaned. After moons of little use, he needed to build his muscles back up. WindClan's warriors didn't elect him to lead just for him to sit back while they did all the work.
Jaystar rolled back to his paws and took up a defensive position, granting Maplestripe a free strike at him. Jaystar realized that he'd been aggressive in this match, as though it were a real battle, and he needed to let his Clanmate have the same opportunity if he hoped to see improvement from her.
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Post by Maplestripe on Jul 27, 2018 20:16:15 GMT
Maplestripe got to her paws quickly, slightly dazed from the fall she took. She noticed that Jaystar was also on the ground, knowing she had an opening she quickly attacked his ears. Knowing that blood would flow heavily from there if that was an actual wound, it could get in his eyes and make it harder to fight.
She quickly got into an aggresive stance as Jaystar was getting into a defensive one and jumped torwards Jaystar. She attempted to instead of actually jumping on top of the tom, quickly landing right in front of him and dashing to the right. Then she had an opening to attempt attacking his side.
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Post by Jaystar on Jul 27, 2018 23:36:23 GMT
Maplestripe moved swiftly, as she should. She leaped in front of him, too close for comfort, and then dashed to the right. An enemy wouldn't be pleased with a WindClan warrior up in their face, and he admired the molly's boldness--certainly the surprise would shock a good number of warriors into flinching and thus losing an opportunity to attack, but some possessed reflexes that almost matched WindClanners'. Maplestripe could receive a swipe in the face if she pulled a move like this on the wrong cat.
When she moved to the right, he whipped around to face her and instinctively ducked, hoping she'd aim for his head or shoulders and lose her balance from the missed strike. Instead, she struck his side and he stumbled, nearly losing his footing. He pounced and turned to face her again, this time standing tall.
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Post by Maplestripe on Jul 28, 2018 0:50:04 GMT
She'd smile, knowing she had landed a blow. Maplestripe would quickly turn to face Jaystar again, seeing he hadn't made another move yet. Seeing he was standing tall, she decided to duck and attempt crashing into his chest. Hopefully his center of balance was high enough that he would fall or at least stumble, and with that she whipped around batting her sheathed paw at his throat. If it was where it was supposed to be, she would land it. If not she would most likely stumble.
This move had its fair share of risks, but the reward was great if you needed to kill your opponent. As long as the opponent was tall and not too heavy. Maplestripe trusted herself enough to preform the move correctly, but occasionally it wouldn't work of course.
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Post by Jaystar on Jul 29, 2018 15:50:25 GMT
Maplestripe's head slammed into Jaystar's chest, the force shoving him into a gorse bush. He scrambled to get up and escape. Being cornered was a WindClan cat's worst nightmare, and in a simple practice session Maplestripe managed to make it a reality for Jaystar. He panicked and scrambled to dash away, only to be given a blow to the throat. He spat and coughed, desperate to catch his breath. His body trembled.
A few moments passed and Jaystar recollected himself. When his paws felt steady again, he stood and dipped his head to Maplestripe. "Congratulations, you are the winner of the first match."
Jaystar padded before his Clan again and said, "Who will face Maplestripe?"
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Post by Ferretpaw on Aug 9, 2018 19:03:08 GMT
It was with intense curiosity that Ferretpaw had watched the fight between Maplestripe and Jaystar. Leader against warrior, cat against cat. They tangled and dodged, batted and slammed. Ferretpaw's eyes were moons. Jaystar was right! They couldn't use this sickness as an excuse to grow fat and lazy! They needed to keep their strength up. Her paws itched to join in, and when Jaystar finally called for another cat to take on Maplestripe Ferretpaw jumped to her paws.
"I volunteer!" she called, voice clear and even. So what if she was only an apprentice? She couldn't let that hold her back. She would be a warrior soon enough, and Ferretpaw needed all the experience she could get. |
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