[Smokey] "Sorry" Won't Do It

[♦ stormeh ♦]

<sup>Embergaze bounded through the soft, whispering meadows, casting a glance behind him every now and then to make sure Cougarpaw was behind him. The two were off on training again, and this time Embergaze would be reviewing Cougarpaw's knowledge on the basic fighting strategies and tactitcs.

Embergaze decided to have their training be far from the gorge anre instead close to the Outlook rock. After an additional amount of running, they finally arrived at their destination. Embergaze turned to to face Cougarpaw and fixed him with a stone-hard gaze. "Alright, I've taught you the basics during your first moon as an apprentice; now we will review those basics."

Rolling his shoulders and stretching his legs in preparation, Embergaze padded a few foxlengths away from Cougarpaw, and then positioned himself with his paws firmly planted onto the ground. "Now, show me the dizzy dance," he instructed. The dizzy dance was a useful attack for cats who were small and facing a larger opponent.</sup>

[smokey]

Cougarpaw narrowed his eyes thinking hard on what his mentor had asked him to do. He was still in the process of catching his breath from the run, and felt his sides bulging with each breath. Being smaller in size it took twice as much out of him to keep up with Embergaze's stride.

Shaking his head, he pulled in his focus. He dashed toward his mentor and dodged around him and tried to confuse him by making him have to turn to see him, than made a leap for his mentor's side and attempted to slide underneath him to get at his soft belly. He was a bit clumsy with it though, and his paws felt awkward, as if they knew the moves but couldn't keep up with his thoughts.

[[ooc: kept it way open to whatevr you want to do back, after all he's not so good being small and a young apprentice, and he's not natural gifted whatso ever LOL]]

[♦ stormeh ♦]

<sup>Embergaze braced himself for Cougarpaw's attack, and swiped a paw at him, only to hit the air where the small apprentice had just been a heartbeat earlier. Narrowing his eyes, he turned just at the right moment as Cougarpaw attempted to slide under him, and he jumped forwards to protect his exposed belly.

"Try again," he urged, preparing himself this time. Even though Cougarpaw was quite a small apprentice, he sometimes had the upper-hand during mock-battles and training sessions. Embergaze wanted to teach Cougarpaw to fight wisely and strategically, despite his size.</sup>

[smokey]

SHaking the dust from his fur, Cougarpaw set himself up again to try and attack his mentor. You need to be more graceful he thought to himself Those paws of yours seem to land everywhere except where you want them to! Blinking in frustration he concentrated hard on his mentor's underbelly, his brain ticking as he thought of the best way to get there. He stood no chance against a bigger cats claws or teeth, his only shot was to knock the cat off guard.

He again began to dart around, this time trying to get under his mentor from the back end of his body, hoping to get between his hind legs and slip into desired position.

[♦ stormeh ♦]

<sup>Embergaze tensed his muscles, his eyes quickly following Cougarpaw as the apprentice darted around, assumingly attempting to confuse him. Though one moment he was here, another he was gone. Embergaze wildly glanced around in search of his apprentice, and when he realized that it was a diversion, it was too late. Letting out a yelp of surprise, Embergaze felt Cougarpaw slip in through his hind legs and then lying underneath his belly.


ooc;; I made it short so the little guy can have a chance of knocking him over.</sup>

[smokey]

[ooc: dont worry, he wont lol. he's clumsy lol]

Cougarpaw was so excited that he made it through Embergaze's hind legs successfully that he blanked as to what he was supposed to do next. he stared up at the warriors soft underbelly and finally lifted his back up and tried to knock him off balance by putting pressure on his stomach, at the same time he gave a whack at the deputies front paw, his claw got stuck on a tangle of his fur, and he face-planted beneath his mentor. He just lay there way too embarrassed to remove his face from the dirt. Way to go furball! he hissed in his mind at himself.

[♦ stormeh ♦]

<sup>ooc;; Lol, he's not the deputy. x3


Embergaze grunted when he grasped what Cougarpaw was getting at, and he tried to get off the apprentice, but as he was putting pressure on his belly it made that task difficult. Just as he thought he was going to get knocked over, he felt a claw snag in a tuf of fur on his wrist. But as Cougarpaw kept pushing upwards, he was immediately brought down to the ground due to his claw.

Frowning, Embergaze tore the claw from his fur and delicately climbed off of Cougarpaw, glancing down at him with a curious, yet frustrated look. He sometimes got annoyed at Cougarpaw's size, and mostly everytime he messed up in training. Yet he knew how much the apprentice was struggling, and he also knew that it wouldn't change anything if he scolded him.

"Okay, tell me what you did wrong," he meowed calmly, after catching his breath. Embergaze, of course, already knew the answer to that. Cougarpaw did a smart thing to try and trip him by swiping a paw at his leg, but if he hadn't had his claws unseathed, then he might've been successful. Only then did Embergaze realize that Cougarpaw had his claws out, but for once he wasn't going to chastise him for it.</sup>

[smokey]

I swear my claws were not out! He stammered shaking the dirt from his pelt yet again and blinking up at his mentor. He was so embarrassed for falling. You're never going to be a warrior! you're small, and clumsy and cant do anything right! His tail hung limp behind him, and he just felt like a failer. "I tripped, i need to watch my feet when i move, and in order to throw you off balance i need to have balance myself." Cougarpaw knew what he did wrong, but knowing didnt help the fact that his body never seemed to do what his mind wanted. His mother always told him that he would grow into his huge paws, but for right now being incredibly tiny and having huge paws, he was just stuck in fox-dung.

ooc: haha he's sucking up to his mentor by saying he should be deputy! kidding! i have no idea what I was thinking

[♦ stormeh ♦]

<sup>Embergaze said nothing while Cougarpaw spoke, and instead listened with an interested gleam in his silver-gray eyes. Once the apprentice went over his mistakes, the larger warrior sighed and trotted forward, tilting his chin downwards so he could look Cougarpaw in the eye."Correct. Next time, you should just try to focus on pushing me over, because right when you aimed your paw at my leg was when you became unbalanced." he explained, his expression showing nothing but the tiniest bit of sympathy laced his words.

Cougarpaw had large paws indeed, in fact, a bit too large for the rest of his body. It would be hard to adapt to these features, Embergaze noticed, but once he grew into them, Cougarpaw would be quite a formidable warrior. With large paws, he would be able to strike with immense power and accuracy, and when his body grows to be larger as well, he'd obtain stronger muscles during the process. Embergaze was determined to show his hopeless apprentice that size didn't matter.</sup>

[smokey]

Cougarpaw listened intently. He had a lot of respect for his mentor. He wanted to be a great warrior some day, just like him. Cougarpaw worked his claws into the ground as he was spoken to, enjoying the feeling of the dirt between his toes. He blinked when Embergaze was done and mewed. "Ok, I think I understand. Maybe instead of pressing up against you with my back, I could try at my opponents heals or scratching at his belly? He was trying to form together all the different tactics his mentor had taught him. But what do I do if the cat I'm battling just lays down on me? His eyes widened anxiously ith worry as he thought about being flattened by the weight of one of the bigger warriors in the forest. If a thunderclan or windclan tom ever went after him, being under the cats belly might not be the best idea.

[♦ stormeh ♦]

<sup>Embergaze nodded, thoughtfully considering Cougarpaw's suggestion. "Try to aim a blow at their belly," he meowed finally, deciding that an attack like that would cause the most damage. Of course, he could've clawed at his paws also, to trip him, but overall attacking the exposed belly of an opponent would get them running with their tails between their legs.

When Cougarpaw asked what to do when his opponent simply sat on him, Embergaze couldn't help but chuckle a bit, imagining Cougarpaw being crushed by a much larger cat, like Tornshadow. Though he remembered that if something like that happened it would be serious, so he regained his strict posture. "If that happens, let your body go limp. Your opponent will think that you've surrendered, and they'll climb off of you. At that moment, you quickly recover your paws and aim a blow at their flank." he answered, watching a scene of his description silently in his head.</sup>

[smokey]

"I think I can do that." COugarpaw mewed, he was starting to feel tired, between his attempts at fighting and running all the way to where they were now his body felt rather heavy. But he didnt dare say anything, he didnt want his mentor to think he was lazy. So he blinked and looked at Embergaze expectantly waiting for further instructions.