Business As Usual [Bluetail & Dovepaw]

[Cai]

Bluetail was not in a particularly good mood this morning. She had had one hell of a fight with her sister earlier - she barely even knew what it was about - and it was all she could do not to let her bad mood rub off on her young apprentice as they walked out to train. She refused to neglect her duties as a mentor just because Cinderfur was a selfish and spoilt creature with little sense and even less kindness, but she wasn't going to be a happy cat today. Her poor relationship with her sister often meant that Bluetail's patience was seriously tested, and that had happened today. She only hoped that Dovepaw wouldn't give her trouble this session.

The no-nonsense she-cat stopped, apparently satisfied with the small clearing as a training ground for today. Bluetail turned around, weighed up her apprentice and plunged straight into the lesson, not beating about the bush for a moment. Who knew; maybe a good session with Dovepaw would stop her from being irritated by her sister for a while. Though she wasn't overly friendly to Dovepaw, she was careful not to be snippy or unkind. It wasn't her fault she had an utter mousebrain for a sister.

"New move today," she said, her voice carefully calm despite her frayed patience. "The back kick." Bluetail announced the move's name in a casual drawl, sidling along to stand so she was a short way away from her apprentice, her back to a small tree stump. She checked the distance between it and herself briefly, then, without warning, she swung her back legs around and lashed out with them, temporarily tipping her weight forwards to support herself on bent forelegs. Her hindlegs lightly struck the stump and she pushed off against it, using the force to swing herself around. Then her legs were back on the ground again and Bluetail was in a tight battle-ready stance, facing the stump. In a flash, the stance was dropped and the blue-furred she-cat moved back to her apprentice.

"Used to catch an opponent out when they are behind you. But be warned: you must judge the distance with perfect accuracy or you will miss, throw yourself off balance and put yourself in grave danger." Bluetail moved to sit in front of Dovepaw, glancing down at her appraisingly. "Let me see you take your weight on your forepaws before we think about kicking anything," she instructed dryly. "I don't want any accidents today."

[hedgie]

Dovepaw: Shadowclan Apprentice

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Despite the mood of her mentor, Dovepaw was in good spirits. Like any day, she'd woken up long before her sister to wait for Bluetail to take her out training. They hadn't been together as a pair long, but the mottled she-cat had taken to figuring her mentor's moods out pretty quickly. It helped in the long run. It really did. Normally, she'd be chattering about something, her opinions flowing freely from her mouth. Today was different, and to avoid getting snapped at, she would just keep her mouth shut. It was better that way for both of them.

Do what you're told. Don't complain. Things that had been drilled into her head by her father. The lesson on remembering your place and keeping your opinions to yourself, however....she must have skipped those.

The stockily-built apprentice followed along through the forest, right on her mentor's tail. The clearing they entered was a small one, but it was the right size for the intended purpose. Dovepaw took a step backwards when Bluetail whirled around, avoiding getting hit in the face by the older cat's tail. She knew what was coming the moment her mentor was facing her. There would be no small talk, no easy-going introduction. It was straight into today's lesson, a headfirst plunge.

Alright,she thought as she listened to Bluetail speak. a new move! Her eyes followed every move, watching as her blue-furred teacher turned a stump into an unsuspecting enemy. It didn't look easy, but it didn't look very hard. Then again, she didn't want to be taken lightly. If they were going to train, they'd have to work hard. She liked that.

Dovepaw nodded, a short, fluid movement. She doubted Brownpaw was even close to doing something like this. It wasn't the most advanced of moves, yes...but Dovepaw doubted her meek sister would take a challenge like this head on. "Well, we don't want all that grave danger business, I guess..." She mewed, looking down at her paws.

That'd be fun, taking her weight onto those two little things.

Sometimes she wished she was slimmer. Then there would be less weight to hold. Oh well.

She shrugged,and leaned forward, slowly putting more and more of her body weight onto her front paws. C'mon...you can do this. It's easy as catching a mou-Aw, foxdung. She'd been doing so well, and feeling like she wouldn't fall over yet, she'd moved a little too fast and ended up tumbling onto her back.

"I thought I had it there. Sorry."[/size]

[Cai]

The corner of Bluetail's mouth quirked up into a smile as her apprentice toppled over and ended up flat on her back, having pushed a bit too hard and overbalanced. "...Quite. This is why we break the move down first." She said wryly, waiting patiently enough for Dovepaw to get up again. "You've got to have the confidence and just smoothly push forwards. You'll get the feel of how hard to push off quite quickly. So let me see you just push off with your hindlegs so you spring forwards onto your forepaws, but this time not so hard. And keep those forelegs locked straight. Imagine you can't bend your neck or your front legs, but you're trying to get your nose to touch the ground. So you have to move your whole lower body into the air."

Bluetail languidly pushed up into the position, her front legs holding her weight stably. She hovered for a second, then lightly landed on all fours again. Indicating that Dovepaw should go again with a wave of her tail, she sat back to watch, her mood already slightly improved now she was busy and doing something useful with her time. At least being out here teaching meant she wasn't mulling over her issues with Cinderfur or getting into fights with her father. That was all she seemed to do these days...

"Right, off you go."