Warriors: Crazystar's Battle

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

                Crazypaw landed hard on the grassy ground, knocking the air out of her lungs. Just as quickly as she fell, she was back on her feet, waiting for Thunder’s comments. This was her fourth night of battle training with Thunder, and she’d already learned so many new moves!

                “Nice effort,” the brown tom praised her. “But you can’t always try to attack a warrior when they’re charging towards you. You lifted a forepaw to try to hit me on the head, but I was able to duck under your strike and knock you onto the ground. You’d want to try to dodge in that situation.”

                Crazypaw nodded, listening carefully to every word the great leader said. “Okay, so let’s try it again,” Thunder meowed.

                Thunder charged towards her. Fast as lightning, Crazypaw slipped off to one side. But Thunder saw it coming the whole time. Turning his massive head sideways, he used his muzzle to swipe her legs out from under her. The gray-furred apprentice tumbled awkwardly onto the ground once more. “First, you’ll try the move I just did on me,” Thunder instructed. “Then, I’ll show you how you should’ve gotten out of the way instead.”

                Crazypaw dashed towards Thunder. The former ThunderClan leader stepped sideways. Crazypaw twisted her head and brought it towards Thunder’s forepaws. But Thunder simply stepped over her attempt to knock him off of his paws and planted a left forepaw on her neck, pushing her to the ground. “Try striking higher up, or else your opponent will be able to step over your blow,” the StarClan warrior advised.

                Crazypaw darted towards him again, and was successful in bringing Thunder to the ground. “Good job!” Thunder exclaimed. “Now I’ll show you how to dodge.”

                “Charge towards me,” he instructed.

                Crazypaw sprinted towards him one final time. Thunder tensed his hind legs and sprang into the air, soaring over her head. He spun around and met her gaze. “Your turn,” he meowed.

                Thunder raced towards her. Crazypaw leaped as high into the air as she could and was soon flying over Thunder’s massive head and landing on her paws behind him. She whipped around and ran sheathed claws across his face. “Was that good?” she asked.

                “Yes, although you should spin around in the air,” Thunder replied, although his voice sounded as if it were coming from the distance. “I see that it’s dawn. Tomorrow we will…”

                Crazypaw never got to hear the end of his sentence. The dream faded and she opened her eyes in the apprentices den, where the sun was just rising. “Crazypaw!” Liontail called. “We’re going to do battle training with Splashheart and Morningpaw.”

                Crazypaw sighed. He’s only going to tell me stuff that Thunder has already taught me. Why can’t we do hunting or tunnel training or something useful? “Coming,” she replied with reluctance.

                She followed her mentor through the forest and towards the training hollow. When they arrived, Crazypaw saw the Splashheart and Morningpaw were waiting for them at the other side of the hollow. “Hi, Crazypaw!” Morningpaw greeted her sister cheerfully.

                “Good morning,” Crazypaw replied half-heartedly.

                Morningpaw didn’t seem to notice her uncharacteristic lack of enthusiasm. “Today,” Splashheart began. “Liontail and I will be teaching you how to charge at your opponent. This move can be used to easily deliver blows to the face. Be prepared for your opponent to step or roll off to one side.”