flower picking [ shizuka ]

[Foxpaw]

F O X P A W

"I believe I did the first time." Foxpaw's ears twitched and her eyes widened as she titled her head in confusion,"You sure about that?" she asked in an sincere voice. The younger cat was usually attentive, especially to her mentor who she seemed to always have attention without needing to ask for it. She watched with interest as her mentor pounced forwards with long legs stretched outward, swiping at her chin just as he Foxpaw recoiled with a little jump in her step as another leg caught her off guard as she landed knocking her over onto her side with a loud thump and a cloud of smoke erupting from the impact of her back against the ground.A low groan echoed from the she-cats chest as she looked up at Russetfur with tired eyes.

The ground was rough and uncomfortable as she remained in the position she fell in, "I don't like this training." she mewed in a simply with no irritation or unhappiness in her voice, delivering it in a calm and tired tone. "If this is was warrior apprentices go through every day, I'm happy I'm not one of them!" she mewed with a chuckle before rolling over onto her paws, pushing herself up with another groan of discomfort with her muscles already aching though she did hardly anything. Foxpaw shook her low pelt allowing the dust to leave her pelt in a large cloud of smoke before bounding away and turning around with her long tail running against the ground as she turned to face Russetfur with a determined expression, dropping her chest to the floor with her rump raised slightly higher in an equally balanced position with her multicoloured tail flicking behind her.

words || 294
tagged || Priestess Shizuka

[Russetfur]

"On that day, you picked me up and were my savor," and today it's thanks to you that I don't waver. "Don't feel lost when you have" just as many dreams as there are shining stars

"You sure about that?" Foxpaw questioned sincerely.

Russetfur let out a mrrow of amusement when Foxpaw refused to figure out she hadn't been paying attention to know Russetfur had warned her the first time. "Yes." She meowed simply, but she gave no pause between her words and her next actions as she continued their training. Russetfur never dwelled on trying to be right in the eyes of all others. It took a lot to distract Foxpaw since the fluffy apprentice was usually quite attentive. Russetfur's foxy sneak attack worked like a charm, and she flinched inwardly as she saw her apprentice fall straight onto her back with a loud thud. She knew any cat wouldn't be too happy to have his or her back now caked in dust or dirt the way Foxpaw's long, fluffy pelt probably was now, and she pitied Foxpaw a little.

Finally Foxpaw began to voice her impression of their training so far. "I don't like this training." Russetfur heard her meow tiredly. "If this is what warrior apprentices go through every day, I'm happy I'm not one of them!" Russetfur chuckled softly with her. It was obvious how medicine cats weren't as physically fit as warriors in the art of fighting. Indeed, warriors and their apprentices flexed, worked and tired their muscles out every day, keeping them ever toned for facing danger. That was not the life of a medicine cat whose most important job was but to see to the well being of the clan and look out for them as a prophet of Starclan.

Russetfur was about to suggest that their first brief exercises would be enough for now, and they were in no hurry to turn Foxpaw into a fighter for the sake of self defense, when she saw Foxpaw already making the decision to try again. She felt proud of her apprentice's determined attitude. Foxpaw was vocal about her concerns, but she would never take the easy way out, and instead face the challenge at hand with renewed ferocious vigor. Russetfur smiled and mewed, "Are you ready?" although it was rhetorical since Foxpaw's actions showed she was more than ready; she highly looking forward to the next attack, and the fierce determination in her eyes was clear. Russetfur dropped into a light-footed crouch, letting her body position visibly predict her intent to attack again, so Foxpaw could easily expect Russetfur's next move.

Digging her back claws into the ground, Russetfur raced forward with impressive speed, covering the ground between them in barely a heartbeat. Russetfur didn't slow her pace at all, even when she neared Foxpaw. She let her momentum carry her with lightning fast speed in a dance around Foxpaw in an attempt to fake out the apprentice again by displaying what looked to be another of Russetfur's sudden viper-like attacks to the front. The move left Russetfur vulnerable to getting clawed down, but her aggression was a bluff to put the enemy on the defensive instead of risking claws verses claws. If all succeeded, Russetfur would find herself directly behind Foxpaw, a position not favorable for the calico apprentice.

---

tagged || Foxpaw
words || 535
ooc || :3

Table (c) TornKitty of Fade Away ~ Character (c) Priestess Shizuka

[Foxpaw]

Foxpaw remained a firm stance with focused eyes on the red toned cat before her, the apprentice had her chest chest pressed close to the ground with her hind legs bunched up in preparation to move with her fore legs held wide apart her paws digging into the soft ground to keep herself still as she waited for her mentors next attack that she was determined to avoid. Her tail flicked up dust behind her as it moved back and forth in anticipation. Her mentor moved with incredible speed, Spottedpaw remained still as the cat moved until she was behind her before pouncing forward her rough landing bringing up a cloud of smoke from the dusty floor as she rolled onto her side her paw rolling underneath her. The smaller she-cat had learned from her previous mistake of believing Russetfur would only go at her with one attack rather than two and successfully dodged this one.

Her paw throbbed slightly as she lay on top of it from her fall, maybe she hadn't dodged successfully after that messy jump that probably caused more damage than her mentor would've. She looked up at Russetfur with a grin, "I did it!" she purred happily before rolling over pushing herself onto her paws. As soon as her left foreleg hit the ground she stumbled slightly as pain shot through her paw, "Well, maybe not." she mewed with a frown glancing down at her paw with confusion, maybe she had sprained it like a fool. Glancing back up at her mentor with a sheepish grin, "I think I messed up the landing." she chuckled before padding back toward her mentor with a slight limp with the sun beaming down on her pelt showing the dust the lay deep within the layers of fur from her various falls. "I can still go on." she mewed determinedly looking up at her mentor.

words || 319
tagged || Priestess Shizuka
ooc || sorry for it being so late, i have no muse for foxpaw ;-;

[Russetfur]

"On that day, you picked me up and were my savor," and today it's thanks to you that I don't waver. "Don't feel lost when you have" just as many dreams as there are shining stars

This time, when Russetfur made her move, Foxpaw anticipated that Russetfur's first attack was always in preparation for her second one. The apprentice learned fast, and Russetfur was pleased. In fact, Foxpaw even predicted the real attack to come straight from Russetfur's second move, and before Russetfur could launch an attack, Foxpaw had pounced forward and completely out of harm's way. Russetfur was slightly concerned with the way Foxpaw landed awkwardly on her paws and rolled roughly onto her side. She relaxed her previously tensed muscles and padded forward as Foxpaw looked up at her and purred happily, "I did it!" Russetfur was about to nod and praise her apprentice when Foxpaw tried to get to her paws and showed signs of pain. "Well, maybe not. I think I messed up the landing."

When Foxpaw began to pad toward her, there was all too noticeable a limp in her step. Ruseetfur frowned with worry. "You did very well to dodge that attack and predict my attack pattern. But we need to take care of that paw right away." Russetfur turned a shoulder to begin leading the way back to camp where all of the herb stores were.

But Foxpaw's determined mew sounded, that she could still go on, and Russetfur shook her head firmly. "No, you must prioritize your health and wellbeing over your willpower. We must not allow your paw to become even more injured, or it could become unable to heal for life. We will return at once and put some herbs on your paw." Russetfur moved forward to give her apprentice's forepaw a quick sniff. Thankfully, she didn't smell blood at least. Russetfur smiled at Foxpaw and meowed, "Good work today. Now let's return to camp."

---

tagged || Foxpaw
words || 296
ooc || I guess either this could be the end of this thread, or we could go on to the scene at camp if you want

Table (c) TornKitty of Fade Away ~ Character (c) Priestess Shizuka

[Foxpaw]

The calico she-cat frowned at her mentor when she disapproved of continuing her training. Her paw ached, but surely walking on it wouldn't do much harm, it would probably work her paw before it stiffened and swelled as most sprains typically did. She took a step forward and winced slightly, green eyes becoming vaguely clouded with pain. Maybe Russetfur was right, if it was her call to another apprentice she'd order them back to the medicine cat den to be treated, it was just her stubborn nature that made her want to on. Plus, the small she-cat couldn't deny how much she enjoyed practicing something with her whole body rather than trying to remember the right herbs. Foxpaw adored her line of work and her mentor, but it was a nice change and something she could easily get used to. Perhaps she could bother another apprentice to show her some defensive techniques while Russetfurs back was turned so she could surprise her and impress her mentor the next time they practiced. She shook the thought from her head and look up at Russetfur with a sheepish smile.

"You're right, it does ache a bit. A poppy see wouldn't go a miss." she purred with a slight laugh as she limped forward putting as much pressure on the paw as she could take. She could curse her clumsiness, it always seemed to ruin a fun day on her. She would often hit off neatly packaged herbs onto the earth and have to redo a full days work, and now she'd taken a fall and hurt her paw. "I'm a bit of a disaster." she laughed holding her paw up to look at it. No bleeding, though she didn't expect it - it was still a good sign and the fact that she could put small amounts of pressure on it meant it was only a sprain which would heal quick enough and not bother her from going on with her duties. Her self analysis was disturbed by Russetfurs praise - "You did very well to dodge that attack and predict my attack pattern. But we need to take care of that paw right away.". Foxpaws purr rumbled loudly from her chest, "Thank you, I remember hearing something about patterns when the apprentices' came back to camp after sparring. I thought you might've been being sneaky on me." she grinned with a mischievous glint in her eye as she flicked her tail against her mentors flank with a soft laugh.

"No, you must prioritize your health and wellbeing over your willpower. We must not allow your paw to become even more injured, or it could become unable to heal for life. We will return at once and put some herbs on your paw." Foxpaw looked up at her mentor with a concentrated expression. She agreed they needed to treat the wound, but she didn't believe it bad enough to be a lasting injury though it would be a weak point for the next few moons to come. She'd have to be careful either way. "It's not too bad, but you're right. We should return to camp. Not too fast though!" she purred, limping behind the red toned cat with her large tail dragging the earth along with it. "You might have to rename me Hop-paw." she mewed dramatically, pressing her side against Russetfur as though she were about to collapse before regaining a steady position placing her weight over three paws while the injured sat in the air as she stood still. She was slower than Russetfur as they walked back to camp, but who could blame her, her paw felt as though it was pulsing beneath her heavy coat. She wanted to lie down for the rest of the day but she knew she couldn't. There were more things to be learned, and she wanted to become a full medicine cat as soon as she could.

words || 653
tagged || Priestess Shizuka
ooc || yeah we can finish here!