Warriors: Aquashade's Story

Chapter Twenty

Aquapaw's Point Of View

After a few days, the bout of sickness that had ridden my throat was gone. Only a few cats still had a lingering cough or a sneezing bug left in them.

Also, I believe StarClan had sent a sign to Leafpool when she visited the Moonpool because earlier she dropped through the waterfall to join the ThunderClan cats. Squirrelflight and Bramblestar were definitely pleased to see the third medicine cat.

Currently, I was teaching my apprentice, Leafpaw, some battle moves to handle bigger opponents.

She had learnt to deal with the fact that I, and not a legitimate warrior, was her mentor. She had grown to respect me, but sometimes she would amusingly get on my bad side, which always resulted in a cuff around the she cat's ear.

"So, Leafpaw. Today I'm going to teach you how to handle a bigger opponent in battle. Since they're bigger than you, you'd want to get on their back, or somewhere a safe distance away from their claws. We'll call that a vantage point. Since we need a bigger cat, I'm going to see if I can get a senior warrior to help us with this practice.

I padded around the hollowed out cave thing, and searched for a warrior that wasn't busy.
I saw Lionblaze lounging around with Cloudtail and Brightheart at his sides. I knew the stories about what a formidable fighter he was, so I greeted him.

"Hey Lionblaze, would you like to help me with my apprentice?" I asked, Leafpaw behind me.

He opened his throat into a rumbling purr, just like a lion. "Sure Aquapaw, why not? Congratulations on getting an apprentice of your own. I've never heard of an apprentice getting an apprentice."

I licked my chest in embarrassment,

"Ahh, I remember when I had an apprentice of my own. It was Dovewing."

Dovewing's ears perked up across the clearing at the sound of her name.

Lionblaze chuckled, "let me tell you, her and Ivypool were always getting into trouble. Once, they crossed the border and snuck into WindClan's camp. They sure got a cuffing in the ear by Firestar, the leader at the time.

Leafpaw and I let out a few laughs, and Dovewing ducked her head, fake-snarling at Lionblaze.

Lionblaze heaved himself to his paws, disturbing Cloudtail and Brightheart, who were drowsily sharing tongues, as they had been battle training earlier.

"Okay, so what do you want me to do, Aquapaw?" Lionblaze asked,

"Well, I'm currently teaching Leafpaw how to attack bigger opponents, so I want you to pretend you're a big dragon, gliding over the ground. Leafpaw's going to try to sneak up on you and attack you by leaping up on your back."
I told him.

Lionblaze nodded, "So all I do is pretend I'm a dragon."

I nodded in response.
"So, wander around aimlessly, then at some point, Leafpaw is going to attack you."

Lionblaze started padding around in different directions while I took Leafpaw into a fern bush. I instructed her on what to do.
"All you need to do is get on his back, then start slashing with claws sheathed, but remember, is it's a real battle, unsheathe your claws."

"I know, I know. I'm not a mouse brain." Leafpaw whispered.

"Now... GO!" I whisper shouted,

Leafpaw swiftly darted out from underneath the bush and charged into Lionblaze's hindquarters. He let out a yelp of alarm, but held his ground. As Leafpaw prepared to jump, Lionblaze kicked her into the air with a strong, well aimed blow of his hind paw.
Leafpaw landed on her muzzle with a loud, "oof!"

I wiggled out of the fern bush,

"Leafpaw, next time, when you jump, go straight into it. Don't stop in place and have a big build up. Gain power as you run."
I meowed,

"She's right." Lionblaze added with a nod of approval.

Bluestar's Point Of View
It was now the fifth day of the build up moon to the warrior against mythical creature battle. Things weren't looking good. Firestar was standing beside me, pelt bristling as his gaze flew over all the mythical creatures preparing for their battle. Only the Dark Forest knew what they were going to do.