Frostclan: Stay Out of the Shadows -OFFICIAL-

Thornpaw grinned and he flicked his tail excitedly. "Awesome!" he said, excited. His paws sunk down in the cold snow, but he barely seemed to notice as his thoughts wondered. He wondered what kind of special moves Spiritsong would teach him. He started speeding up, anxiously.

Spiritsong grinned. "Consider yourself lucky. Few that aren't medicine cats are ever taught this stuff. I've only ever taught Foxtail and... Never mind," she meowed. Her grin faded. Even after all this time, I still miss Eaglepaw... She quickened her pace to keep up with Thornpaw, occasionally wincing from the cold sting of the snow on her paws.

Goldenstreak, who's tail was a dried, bloody mess, stood next to Cherrywing, his eyes wide with fear. "C-Cherrywing?!" The white tom didn't look back at his former apprentice, his red eyes glued to Lasiar. "So....I suppose my little secret is out, huh?" His claws clicked against a stone. Then his eyes turned wide and he let loose a pained yowl. "GAAAAHHHHH!!! Las-Lasiar?! What's happened?" He fell his paws, breathing heavily. (Cherrywing can be a good actor when he wants to be.)

Lasair was distrustful of Cherrywing and had something else on his mind. "You can take care of yourself." He snarled. "AIGEAN!" He yelled as he ran in the direction that his sister had been flung.

"HEEEEEEEEEELP! HOLY CRAP SOMEBODY HELP!" Screamed Aigean. She was clinging to a tree. The impact had been hard, but not as hard as if she had hit the ground. A few of her claws had been ripped out, but she managed to cling on.

Cherrywing looked around, his gaze was foggy. He saw Goldenstreak and yowled, leaping onto him. "YOU!! What are you doing here?!" Bloody pulse through the spots where Cherrywing's claw pierced Goldenstreak's skin. "Owww!!!" hissed Goldenstreak, struggling under the white warrior's weight.

Foxtail sniffed. She could smell rat, but didn't bother trying to catch it. "How am I supposed to tell the difference between diseased and not diseased?" she grumbled quietly. "There'd better be something else out here to catch. I hate coming back to camp empty-pawed!" The she-cat continued walking out into the forest. Her black paws kept sinking into the snow and leaving deep pawprints wherever she stepped.

Thornpaw's whiskers rose, but he shrugged. If she didn't want to tell him, whatever. It was probably a touchy subject. He slowed down to let Spiritsong take the lead. He wondered if there was a special area for medicine cat special training.

Spiritsong glanced at him. "C'mon, you know where the training hollow is, don't you? We'll just go there. It is still battle training, after all." The small she-cat took the lead anyway, but was keeping her pace slow enough that if Thornpaw wanted to take the lead again, he could. Without stopping, she shook some of the melting snow off her front paw with a disgusted look.

Thornpaw followed eagerly. He wanted to get this special battle training started already. He padded quickly wondering what kind of moves he would learn. He flicked his tail, and jumped over the snow. He kept right behind Spiritsong.


((g2g))

Equestria pricked her ears up as she heard some speaking. "A she-cat's voice and .......Thornpaw! Her white tail coil, swaying in the winter breeze like a dancing wind. Her soft green eyes glittered with motherly love as she spoke the name. Thornpaw.

Ivy walked past Riverpaw when she didn't anwser her question. She kept walking until she reached a skinny vole. She pounced at sunk her her claws into it's flesh. She buried it and continuted her search.

(Kay, bye!)

Spiritsong noticed that Thornpaw was getting impatient and picked up her pace. She wasn't going fast enough for the apprentice to have trouble keeping up. When she entered the training hollow, she glanced around quickly. The snow had covered the entire clearing. She let out a small sigh. I hate trying to fight in the snow, she thought.

Rainpath awoke form his nap and padded out into the forest. Today seems like a good day to go hunting. He thought.

(You still have to get your characters re-approved.)

Foxtail parted her jaws to take in the scents of the forest around her. The first thing she caught was the cold, crisp feel of the air in her throat. Then the scent of a mouse wafted to her. She spotted the scrawny creature squatting in the snow at the base of a tree. Holding back a purr, she crept forward over the snow. She did her best to keep from stepping on anything hidden underneath the white blanket over the forest floor. Once she was just a tail-length away from it, she leaped and landed on the mouse, pinning it with her claws. She quickly delivered a killing bite so it wouldn't have time to squeal and alert any other prey to her presence.

Riverpaw happily padded into camp and shook out her fur. Water spattered on the snow making it melt in places. Her fur was now poofed out so she looked like she was bristling all over. Riverpaw padded into the apprentice's den and sat down in her nest, she began to groom herself.

(( back for a bit. and whaaattt? we have to get our charries reapproved??? ))

Thornpaw bounded to the other side of the clearing "So what's the first move?" he asked, anxiously. His tail lashed in excitement, as he half crouched down staring at Spiritsong. his paws sunk into the snow, and he twitched his whiskers as he imagined all sorts of cool battle moves and killing techniques.

Eagletalon watched Riverpaw from beside the warriors' den. He looked curiously at the wet apprentice. How'd she get so wet? he wondered. And isn't she the slightest bit cold? I'm pretty surprised the water wasn't already started to turn to ice on her fur! He shook his large brown head. Oh, well. Even if I asked, she probably wouldn't tell me.

Thunderkit stretched and padded out of the nursery. He lightly stepped onto the snow, but his dark brown paws sank into it anyway. Mouse-dung! He didn't dare curse out loud, because he knew Rosethorn would get mad at him. He had to repeatedly hop to get anywhere without plowing straight through the snow. He got to his bush and used his fluffy tail to brush away the small layer of snow underneath. Once he managed to clear enough of it, he layed down and peered through the dead branches. The pile of pure white snow around the bush was blocking him from view.

"First," Spiritsong answered, "is this move!" She suddenly darted forward, kicking up snow. She slid to one side and lightly nudged him with her forepaw just below the ribs on his side. "This move, if used with unsheathed claws, often makes even hardened warriors jump and hesitate for a moment, which gives the attacker some extra time to use another attack," she explained. Then she backed up, flicking her tail. "See if you can build up enough speed to give me a good shove there!" the medicine cat challenged.

(No, Shinxluver just hasn't reposted her cats' forms yet.)

(( Oh ))

Thornpaw did jump when she poked him in the ribs a little. But as she explained he nodded, understanding. he flicked his tail and crouched down. He stared at Spiritsong for a moment, judging the distance. He burst forward, dashing over the snow He seemed to almost pass Spiritsong by before turning and raising a sheathed paw, he thrusted it in the direction of her ribs.

Riverpaw finally got all her fur to stick down and she was pretty dry. She started to doze off and before long she was snoring peacefully.

Moonpelt padded out of the warrior's den and into the forest. She lifted her head and opened her maw. The faint scent of chaffinch wafted over to her and she began to stalk it. when she was only a tail-length away she leaped and caught the small bird. She buried it in the snow and continued on, searching for more prey.

Spiritsong couldn't help but jump when Thornpaw jabbed her. Just before he'd struck, the she-cat had managed to move to the side a little, so she wasn't affected very badly. "Excelent job," she praised. "And now for a move that I usually use to follow up that one." She turned to face him. "So, if I'd just delayed your movements for a moment by using that attack, what do you think would be a good way to use your advantage?"

"Slash them?" Thornpaw suggested, what to him seemed like an obvious choice. If the opponent was frozen, why not sink his claws into their neck? Thornpaw swished his tail. He looked up at Spiritsong for an answer.

Riverpaw woke up a few minutes later. She got up and cursed herslef for not being able to sleep. I could train with Foxtail she thought. She padded out of th apprentices den and yelled "Foxtail!"

Foxtail was just trotting back into camp with her catch. the skinny mouse and a small vole dangled from her jaws. She glanced over at Riverpaw and quickly trotted to the fresh-kill pile. She dropped the two pieces of prey on top and looked back at her apprentice. "Ready for some training?" she meowed cheerfully.

Spiritsong shook her head. "Remember, unless it's purely to protect your own life, you don't aim to kill," she meowed. She stepped up beside him in the same position she'd been in after jabbing him in the side. "Force them to surrender by knocking them over. They'll be unbalanced and easy to take down. You have to be able to manage to keep them pinned long enough. This move works best with heavier cats that are already injured, because they get dazed more easily when their head hits the ground. By keeping them pinned, they'll eventually lose enough blood that they won't be able to fight back and must flee. When pinning a cat, always remember to keep your belly guarded." She let one of her hind legs slide out from under her and lightly smack against Thornpaw's back legs to knock him over.

Thornpaw rolled with it. He lay face up on his back, letting Spiritsong show him the move. His tail lay flat on the ground, and he help his paws spread eagled.

Spiritsong lightly placed her forepaws on his chest. She had one hind paw on his stomach, but it was off to the side, and just below his ribs. Her other hind paw was right next to him, and unlike in a real battle, all her weight was on that paw. "In an actual battle, I'd have the majority of my weight on my forepaws. That restricts the air that you can get into your lungs, though it doesn't actually suffocate. Most warriors stand completely on top of their opponent for the sake of putting more weight onto them, but that exposes your belly, which is why many cats end up with injuries there. Standing like this keeps your belly out of reach of your opponent's hind paws. If you can keep them pinned like this long enough, they will become unable to fight. You can tell by the way they're breathing how close they are to reaching that state; if their breathing is slow, but shallow, that means they've mostly relaxed and given up but are still having trouble taking in air. If their breathing is quick and shallow, they're still able to fight back. Always keep them down until their breathing slows, if you can manage it. By the time you'd have to use this move, you'll be larger than me and will be able to use more of your weight to pin them, so it'd be harder for them to struggle and get away." She stepped off of him and retreated several steps. "Now, knowing all that, try to use both attacks on me."