Warriors: Storm and Flood

Chapter Three

 "Alright, we need to know where we need improvement," Bluecloud said curtly, beckoning Harvestfoot with her tail. "We're going to demonstrate a move that we feel you all struggled with during the battle." With a swift nod from Bluecloud, Harvestfoot darted underneath the grey she-cat, springing up to knock her over with his back. However, Bluecloud countered the move by jumping to the side and jabbing her forepaws into the deputy's side, causing him to reel back and stumble. "It's not an advanced move, but it's pretty easy to look over if you don't pay attention." The she-cat meowed when they had finished the demonstration.

"I want you in pairs," Harvestfoot added. "Pikepaw and Frostpaw, you two can go to the edge of the clearing. Thrushpaw and Gorsepaw, you can have the middle. We'll be observing you as you go."

Thrushpaw glanced at Gorsepaw, who had already made his way to the center of the clearing. "I want to practice the jump first," the golden tom said as he took his position. "Good luck getting under me, though!"

Gorsepaw was right; it would be more difficult for Thrushpaw to snake his way underneath his belly, since he was so much smaller. Taking a few paces back, Thrushpaw looked his denmate over, then found that he was leaning to the left a bit, probably still sore from the battle. Finding his advantage, Thrushpaw darted forward, veering to the right to try to unbalance his friend. This took Gorsepaw by surprise, but he quickly recovered by propelling himself to the right with his hind paws. Although it wasn't part of the battle move, Thrushpaw slipped to Gorsepaw's side, delivering a blow to the back of the tom's hind paws, unbalancing him. Before he could do anything else, Thrushpaw pounced on top of him and gently bit his scruff as to not injure him.

"That was cool!" Gorsepaw meowed excitedly, pushing Thrushpaw off of him. "Can I try?"

"Sure," Thrushpaw replied happily. He was content with how he was catching on to battle moves more; it had been frustrating as a younger apprentice to feel like he didn't fit in anywhere with the clan. It just took some time, he told himself, satisfied. Shaking out his pelt, he stepped back and allowed Gorsepaw to try the move on him. He was fully aware that Laurelfur was watching them, and that gave him even more confidence; Laurelfur had helped him through his awkward time, and he could see that she was proud of him whenever they trained together.

After a few rounds of practicing the battle move, Harvestfoot stepped into the clearing, his ears flicking. "You've all done very well," he meowed. "Now you can test the move on your mentors."

"But you're much bigger than us!" Pikepaw protested, his grey pelt fluffing up.

"You need to be able to take on a bigger enemy," Bluecloud commented as she gave her chest fur a few licks. "You won't just be fighting apprentices during battle."

When Pikepaw decided not to argue any further, the apprentices paired up with their mentors and began to practice the move. Laurelfur, of course, was going easy on him, but Thrushpaw didn't complain; she was making it much easier on him to accommodate his size. Not long after, however, Thrushpaw felt a cold raindrop on his nose; a moment later the small drops began to grow, and before long it began to pour. Hearing a squeak of protest, he glanced over at Frostpaw, whose fur was fluffed up against the cold water. Gorsepaw let out a mrrow of amusement and licked her shoulder.

"Bad luck," the golden apprentice laughed. "Looks like you have to get your paws wet after all!"

"That's enough training for today anyway," Harvestfoot commented, squinting up at the storm clouds. "We should be getting back to camp. It'll be dark soon."

The patrol of cats then left the clearing and began to pad back to camp; Laurelfur trotted up to Thrushpaw and nudged his shoulder with her muzzle. "You're showing improvement," she meowed. "I'm proud of you."